‘High cost hinders patronage of Agrovet services’
The patronage of veterinary services by agribusiness operators in most parts of the country is yet to be maximised.
Daily Trust checks show that obstacles like accessibility and affordability of the services are the likely factors inhibiting the growth of the practice mostly in the rural and semi urban areas.
Our reporters, who spoke to some operators of Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the animal production specialty revealed the trend of self-help in treating birds and animals among them.
Mr Joe Ajei who rears goats in Ugbokolo, Benue State, said he has not sought for the services of a veterinary doctor in his 15 years in the business.
“When the goats are ill, we give them herbs, if it doesn’t work, then we immediately slaughter them to avoid capital waste,” he said.
Mr Okon Ufot of Aso Pada, a border town near the FCT has similar experience. He has been into poultry business, supplying eggs and chicken for five years but said he patronised the animal feed stores only, and not a veterinary shop.
He said: “I would love to, but in the whole of this town, there is just one place for treating animals, and its prices are so high.”
Asked how he managed the chicks, Ufot said: “We learn from experience. There was a time I lost many chicks to flu, so I inquired from bigger farms how to prevent it and the drugs to administer. I now buy such drugs from medical stores and administer them myself. That works but at times, I still record casualties.”
A check around Kaduna metropolis in Kaduna State revealed that although the vet stores are few, some of the operators of the stores said they get clients who hire them mostly to treat their dogs rather than birds or other animals.
Mr Joshua Obu, a veterinary doctor also in Kaduna, confirmed that experts were few in the profession as the course took a longer duration to complete than human medicine in the university.
He also noted that people were not motivated to read the course as the market is low in Nigeria. “In the US and some Western countries, veterinary medicine is a great profession because of the high rate of patronage. It is not so in Nigeria. That is why when there is an outbreak of animal diseases, it always ravaged and caused huge economic losses.”
Mr Chidi Okoli operates a poultry business in Karu - Abuja and patronises the services of ‘Agrovets’. He note that his business has grown remarkably because he records little fatality of birds in his farm.
“Although it is a bit expensive, it is better than losing hugely. The ones I patronise give me a lot of advice on how to manage the health of the birds and their advice works for me,” he said.
He urged poultry owners and animal producers to patronise the services of ‘Agrovets’ if they want to maximise their business capacity.