Authors : A.A. Adeyemo and M.P. Onikoyi
Abstract: Poultry outnumbers all other forms of livestock in Nigeria and not surprisingly is found throughout the country wherever there human settlement. The main poultry production system in the country can be generally differentiated into 2 groups, namely; subsistent and commercial. This study restated the findings of previous studies that majority of poultry in Nigeria are kept by subsistence farmers. Inspite of the immense contributions of the poultry industry to the national economy, the subsector is facing challenges such as poor quality of ingredients used in the manufacture of feed, supply of poor quality chicks, high feed costs, inadequate access to and high cost of veterinary services and poor marketing information systems amongst others. These factors, to a large extent, have slowed down further growth of the sector. Impetus on development of commercial poultry production can be facilitated by public private partnership. This would ensure sustainability of poultry enterprises, provision of capital subsidy by government in form of periodic grants to poultry farmers and core infrastructures. Government should provide financial assistance to subsistence and small-scale poultry farmers in form of soft loans. It should also give them tax concession. Poultry waste management system under commercial production should be properly designed, built and maintained in order to protect both surface and underground water quality.
A.A. Adeyemo and M.P. Onikoyi, 2012. Prospects and Challenges of Large Scale Commercial Poultry Production in Nigeria. Agricultural Journal, 7: 388-393.