Don canvasses national policy on livestock breeding


 The Nigeria Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) on Wednesday called for the formulation of a national policy on livestock breeding.
Prof. Eustace Iyayi, the Chief Executive Officer of the institute, made the call at a lecture organised by the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Ibadan.
Iyayi, who spoke on ``Sustainable Innovations in the Present Day Nigeria’s Animal Production Industry,’’ said such policy would bring a sustainable innovation in animal production industry.
He stressed the need to tackle problems associated with drivers of livestock production through research.
``We need national livestock census to ascertain the number of animals for production; renovation in breeding and molecular genetics.
``We need to embrace the use of DNA makers to identify genes or genomics regions that control traits; concerted efforts need to be made to increase agriculture contribution to the GDP,” he said.
Also speaking, the President, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Dr Ayo Odutan, appealed to government to create enabling environment for local businesses to grow.
Odutan spoke on ``Facilitating Entrepreneurial Competence in Animal Production through Public Private Partnership’’.
He said Public Private Partnership (PPP) in agriculture should always support the financing, risk, addressing constraints and ensuring stability of farmers’ income.
``The objective of PPP in agricultural sector should be for farmers to become economically independent in the shortest possible time.
``We need to create millions of entrepreneurs for us to move forward in the country,” Odutan said.
He advised youths to always work hard and have positive mind, saying there were a lot of opportunities in Nigeria.
The Provost of the college, Dr Olufunmilayo Adejinmi, said that without research there will be less growth in Nigeria.
Represented by the institution’s Director of Consultancy Services, Dr Olufunmilayo Ogunleke, said the programme was a landmark in the department.
According to him, it would improve the standard of living of the stakeholders and students.
Earlier, the Head of Animal Production Department, Dr Joseph Olupona, said the event was the first of its kind in the institution, saying ``it was organised when the country focused more on agriculture.’’
‘`So we saw the need for us to brainstorm on how to get innovation technologies on animal production; the essence is also to educate the students further,” he said. 

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