Alternative feeds can keep poultry farmers afloat
Currently, there is an acute shortage of maize, maize bran, silver fish (mukene), cotton/sunflower cake and shells which are major ingredients in livestock feeds.
Currently, there is an acute shortage of maize, maize bran, silver fish (mukene), cotton/sunflower cake and shells which are major ingredients in livestock feeds.
Maize, rice and wheat bran, mukene, beans, soya, sunflower, rice and other cereals are being exported, leaving feed processors in Uganda with limited supply of raw materials. This is why we are currently experiencing high prices on poultry feeds.
To cope with the high prices, farmers should consider using alternatives to feed their poultry. Alternatives like sweet potatoes, cassava, greens, and banana peelings can help farmers to save on the cost of feeds. Currently, a kilogram of maize bran is sh1,300, while that of maize is sh1,400.
Other cheaper alternatives include wheat bran and pollard, rice polish, sorghum, molasses and soybeans which are good sources of energy, just like maize bran. A kilogram of wheat pollard costs sh660, while that of wheat bran is sh520. Rice polish goes at sh400 a kilogram. The price of cassava and sweet potatoes varies according to the quantity.
Cassava can be crushed into tiny particles which are then fed to the birds. Sweet potatoes can be dried and milled into flour, which can be mixed with soybeans, to give both energy and proteins.
Solutions to future crises
To overcome the problem of high feed prices, the
Government must enact a national grain policy which requires the reestablishment of national silos to store produce, especially cereals and oil seeds, which provide the raw material for poultry feeds.
The policy should see to it that when there is a bumper harvest, the excess produce is kept for future use and only released to give way for a new harvest.
Re-establish cooperative movements that will organise the growing, buying, processing and storing of agricultural produce. In that respect, cotton farming and ginning can revive the textile industry and increase agricultural production in animal and poultry industries through the availability of feeds.
Also, a national agricultural policy prohibiting the export of raw materials such as cotton and sunflower seeds, maize, wheat and rice bran, millet and sorghum should be put in place.
Only finished products such as animal and poultry feeds should be allowed to be exported, but priority should be given to the local industry.
The ministry of education should revise some of the lessons being offered at agricultural training institutions to accommodate the element of feed formulation, to save farmers a lot of money.
Unless the above measures are put in place, the country stands to lose large sums of money that the agriculture and poultry sectors in particular bring in.
The writer is a veterinary doctor, poultry breeder and
director of ASIIMA AGRI CONCERN
Maize, rice and wheat bran, mukene, beans, soya, sunflower, rice and other cereals are being exported, leaving feed processors in Uganda with limited supply of raw materials. This is why we are currently experiencing high prices on poultry feeds.
To cope with the high prices, farmers should consider using alternatives to feed their poultry. Alternatives like sweet potatoes, cassava, greens, and banana peelings can help farmers to save on the cost of feeds. Currently, a kilogram of maize bran is sh1,300, while that of maize is sh1,400.
Other cheaper alternatives include wheat bran and pollard, rice polish, sorghum, molasses and soybeans which are good sources of energy, just like maize bran. A kilogram of wheat pollard costs sh660, while that of wheat bran is sh520. Rice polish goes at sh400 a kilogram. The price of cassava and sweet potatoes varies according to the quantity.
Cassava can be crushed into tiny particles which are then fed to the birds. Sweet potatoes can be dried and milled into flour, which can be mixed with soybeans, to give both energy and proteins.
Solutions to future crises
To overcome the problem of high feed prices, the
Government must enact a national grain policy which requires the reestablishment of national silos to store produce, especially cereals and oil seeds, which provide the raw material for poultry feeds.
The policy should see to it that when there is a bumper harvest, the excess produce is kept for future use and only released to give way for a new harvest.
Re-establish cooperative movements that will organise the growing, buying, processing and storing of agricultural produce. In that respect, cotton farming and ginning can revive the textile industry and increase agricultural production in animal and poultry industries through the availability of feeds.
Also, a national agricultural policy prohibiting the export of raw materials such as cotton and sunflower seeds, maize, wheat and rice bran, millet and sorghum should be put in place.
Only finished products such as animal and poultry feeds should be allowed to be exported, but priority should be given to the local industry.
The ministry of education should revise some of the lessons being offered at agricultural training institutions to accommodate the element of feed formulation, to save farmers a lot of money.
Unless the above measures are put in place, the country stands to lose large sums of money that the agriculture and poultry sectors in particular bring in.
The writer is a veterinary doctor, poultry breeder and
director of ASIIMA AGRI CONCERN