“When it comes to management of farms, most farmers seem to be lazy. Hardly will you get to a farm and get adequate record especially in terms of expenses. Farmers find it difficult to keep record of expenses and some farmers don’t know if they are making profit or not. And all these things are very important.”
FAD: Tell us briefly about yourself in terms of your experience in the farming industry.
Dr Makinde: My experience in the farming business started from the time I was an undergraduate at the university. I developed a keen interest in farming right from my days in the university. The first area of my experience in farming was piggery. In those days, we had a university farm, which was lying fallow. I keyed into it by making use of the available facilities then, on the university farm. And that was how I started a piggery farm. That particular interest stimulated what we are doing today as a whole.
After graduating, I lunched into farming business in a proper way, by first starting with a company that has to do with farming business in terms of producing feeds for farmers. After I left that company, I also continued in the same terrain. Currently, I have my own farm and I also provide support services to farmers, be it poultry, piggery or fish and others as well.
FAD: What do you consider to be your best advice for poultry farmer now, in terms of poultry nutrition?
Learn MoreDr Makinde: Currently, you know the situation that poultry farmers are passing through now is so pathetic, in terms of cost. And most especially the main inputs in poultry production that has gone very high. When I talk about inputs, I can classify the Day Old Chicks, the feed and the drugs that farmers use. Everything has really gone up. The cost of production has really gone up beyond expectation and so it is a serious challenge for farmers now.
My advice for farmers now, especially when it comes to nutrition, is that they should not give up. This is the time when many people will be looking at closing their shops, farms winding up and forgetting about the business. It is a time to remember that tough times don’t last but tough people do. It is only people that are tough that will be able to sustain the time that we are in. so I want to encourage farmers to keep on keeping up, because I know that very soon, we will get out of this challenge.
They should not compromise when it comes to quality, especially when it comes to nutrition, the feeds given to their birds because that is still going to tell on the birds. Most of the prices of feed ingredients have gone up so much and the first thing you want to think about is how to cut down cost. And if you do that too much, it will still tell on the birds and eventually, the farmer will be losing. So I will say farmers should keep on doing the best, and as much as important they should try and find avenues to sell their farm products at a good price in other to be able to cover their cost.
This interview will be continued in the next post.
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