With the rising demand for pork meat across the nation, a pig farmer has asked the federal government along with various stakeholders to support the expansion of piggery nationwide.
iBrandTV gathered that the livestock business is lucrative but capital intensive owing to the increase in the prices of the animal feeds.
Generally, pigs eat both grains and meat. They can also be feed with cooked table scraps, rice and vegetables. Among all the food elements, corn is the most common food for pigs. Soybeans or cooked meat can be a great source of protein for the pigs.
The cost of feeding 10 pigs from when they stop drinking milk to maturity which is after about five months, is about N50, 000. Although, that cost can be reduced if you are manufacturing or compounding the feeds you give your pigs.
Available market reports show that a bag of maize to feed pigs which usually cost N2,500, is now N7,000.
What a pig Farmer said
In a chat with a pig farmer at Niger State, Mr Monday Ozoemena, “Rearing pigs for meat is a very lucrative business, infact it is a multi-million Naira business but I don’t have enough money now.
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“As I speak to you now I cannot meet the demands of my customers for pork meat within and outside Niger state. I tried to get the agriculture loan but could not meet the requirements to secure the loan.
“Aside from clients within the Niger State, others come from Abuja, Lagos, Delta, Enugu and Benue states to purchase the pigs for meat. Even some Chinese people in Abuja and Lagos also come here to buy pigs from me,” he said.
The farmer, who established the piggery on a plot of land in Chanchaga near Minna said that after selling over 19 pigs for meat recently he was left with 25 of the local species.
Ozoemena said that some of the animals were sold between N60,000 and N120,000 depending on the weight.
He explained that the animals produce piglets twice a year, adding that the pregnancy of a female pig lasts for about four months.
“The local pig can give a farmer five to 12 piglets per birth while the hybrid pigs produce up to 15 per birth,” he said.
Ozoemena said that some of the challenges of rearing the animal was the high cost of feeding them and getting a veterinary doctor to check their health condition and deworming them.
“In modern piggery, you don’t allow them to roam around to pick food, it depends on where your farm is located. Aside what the animals pick at the refuse dump you have to feed them well to produce piglets,” he said.
He said that there was an increase in the prices of rice hoist and groundnut shell processed with other supplements to feed the pigs.
Ozoemena, who urged young Nigerians to venture into rearing pigs for commercial purposes.
