Pig Farmers advised To Embrace Technology To Increase Yield
Farmers have been charged to develop more interest in scientific and technological developments and knowledge in order to reduce losses and improve the farming culture in Nigeria.
This was the view of Managing Director, PigFan Nigeria Ltd, Femi Malomo during a one-day seminar organized by the company for pig farmers which held at the mini hall, University of Ibadan Hotel, recently, with the theme “Reducing piglet losses.”
Malomo, while making his presentation on the topic “Piglet management from farrowing to weaning”, stated that so many odds are against pig farmers in Nigeria as they do neither control live weight prices of pigs nor the prices of feed. He therefore said that the only way pig farmers can break even and make profits was for them to take necessary steps to ensuring they have more and healthy piglets at farrowing and weaning.
“We organised this seminar to help the farmers produce using the latest technology in pig farming so that their losses can be reduced. We’ve been able to impart so much knowledge and they will take this knowledge to their farms and they will be able to improve their farms and become more profitable and also be able to improve the society”, Malomo said.
Malomo, maintained that pig farming and business market has not been saturated and advised that more youths should engage in agricultural ventures rather than quick money-yielding schemes, as the sector has assurances of a durable income and investment.
He identified the causes of piglet losses to include crushing, starvation, diarrhoea and infections and added that losses could lead to “erosion of operating capital, increased cost of production hence reducing profits, farm stagnation and waste of time and energy.”
On his part, Head, Agriculture Insurance Desk, Anchor Insurance Company Limited, Baron Omiji said another way pig farmers can mitigate losses is by getting insurance cover for their farms.
Speaking on the topic “Insurance and pig farming”, Omiji noted that pig farmers with insurance cover for their farms have the advantage of getting back on their feet by re-couping operating capital after any incidence of death of their pigs as a result of fire, flood, windstorm, diseases like the African Swine Fever (ASF), than those without an insurance plan.
“The essence of insurance is to ensure that farmers have their money back in cases of losses and not to make profits. It is not transferable”, Omiji said while encouraging farmers to do their due diligence of taking care of their pigs to avoid loses and not hope entirely on insurance claims.
Piglets’ guts are other means through which they contract diseases that can lead to death. To this end, Technical Manager, Farm’Apro, France, Caroline Lacheveque, while speaking on the topic “Piglet vulnerability, risk factors and gut health” said the company had developed a ready-to-use complimentary feed for newborn piglets.
Lacheveque said the oral paste, one dose of which should be used immediately after birth and five hours late, if necessary, is enriched with whole formula of colostrums, vitamins, essential oils, fatty acids, protein, etc, acts as anti-oxidant, immune stimulant and protects from oxidative stress.
One of the participants at the seminar, Olumide Alli of De-bronx Global Farms Ltd said the seminar has convinced him of the essence of insurance for his farm and helped in proffering solutions to the challenges he encountered on his farm.
“A lot of farmers need financiers to assist farmers like the Bank of Agriculture, commercial banks to help farmers with loans and finance because that is the major thing. A lot of reasons farmers don’t do well is because they get stranded. You get to a point where you have to feed your animals and you don’t have much money, you have to compromise the quality of the feed and the quantity and that really affects the business”, Alli said on the financial challenge for farmers.
On the sideline of the seminar was the exhibition of pig products that improve colostrums and milk quantity and quality, ensures sow and piglet vitality after farrowing, big sized piglets, disinfects and dries skin and farrowing room, prevents diarrhoea, increases sow and piglets’ drinking appetite, feed and water hygiene, prevents urinary tract infection, helps in digestion, among others.
source – tribuneonlineng.com
