State urged: Help farmers reduce cost of livestock farm

 THERE needs to be more support for farmers to help them reduce the costs of having a livestock farm, a researcher says.

National Agriculture Research Institute livestock scientist Martin Lobao said farmers had been facing issues due to high costs of feeds for their livestock. Lobao said the high cost of livestock feed was one of the major constraints in the livestock industry in the country. 

“One of the issues is that most of the feed they get for the farm is sourced from imports,” Labao said. 

“Due to the cost of freight and transportation, retailers have to put a markup on their prices which leave the farmers with no choice. 

“Constant increase in feed prices is unfavourable to poultry farmers.

“These high feed costs lead to a higher production cost forcing farmers to raise the prices of the livestock. We have farmers who have local knowledge of looking after their livestock and we have local resources.

 “They need support to be able to use their own resources instead of a heavy reliance on imported feed.”

Lobao said NARI was doing its part to engage with farmers in providing technical help to sustaining their livestock farms through partnership programmes.

He said the Government should look at policies that would aid the farmers in developing the livestock industry.