By Grace Eshedagho
IBUSSA/Nigeria: Delta State Government had carried out the training of 100 poultry farmers in keeping with the stronger Delta agenda of making Delta State the food basket of the nation.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Chief Julius Egbedi stated this during the opening ceremony of the training on poultry production in Ibusa.
Egbedi said that the training, which was approved by the state governor, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, was aimed at facilitating the integration of small-scale farmers into the mainstream poultry value chain.
According to him, the training would help the farmers increase animal protein production, boost job creation, farm income and improve farmers livelihood.
He added that the training would address major challenges plaguing the agricultural subsector, such as access to credit, market, affordable production inputs and also innovative knowledge and skills.
The commissioner noted that the programme, which started in 2018 with the Broiler Outgrowers Scheme and later metamorphosed into Poultry Farmers Support Programme in 2020, had created over 174 direct jobs, as well as over 86 credit support channels to farmers.
He observed that the programme was expected to result in an additional production leap of 97 metric tons of broiler meat and 66 metric tons of eggs per annum, while at the same time creating about 30 direct jobs in the first instance and many indirect jobs downstream.
On his part, the Director of Livestock Services, Mr Julius Omonizua, said that training would go a long way to impact skills and knowledge required for profitable poultry farming.
Omonizua said that some of the participants, who were existing famers with minimum capacity for 1000 broilers and 600-layer birds, would receive credit support.
Appreciating the support of the state government towards the farmers, Mr Jerome Urukevwere, who spoke on behalf of the participants, thanked the commissioner and promised to apply the skills received from the training in the running of their farms.
