By Dennis Peprah
Wenchi, (Bono), Feb. 17, GNA – The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a United Nations (UN) agency and the Veterinary Service Department (VSD) have been commended by poultry farmers for their support to boost the nation’s poultry sector.
Poultry farmers in the Wenchi Municipality gave the commendation, with the hope that the FAO would extend its capacity training to benefit more poultry farmers nationwide.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Wenchi, the about 30 poultry farmers said they were beneficiaries of a training workshop organised by the FAO through the Veterinary Services Department.
According to the poultry farmers, the training exposed them to antimicrobial resistance and other related topics, saying they had seen drastic improvement since they applied the knowledge they acquired from the training.
They spoke to the GNA on the side-lines of a refresher workshop, and expressed the hope that the government would also do more to make the poultry sector more attractive too.
“In fact, the FAO training was very insightful. Comparatively the FAO practice on poultry production is the best because we can now see a lot of changes,” Mr Alhassan Adama, one of the poultry farmers, and a facilitator and spokesperson for the beneficiaries, stated.
He asked the other beneficiaries to continue applying the knowledge to safe keep their birds and widen their profit margins, as they produced high-quality birds with high protein value.
Mr Sina Seidu, the host poultry farmer, said his birds were healthier than before, saying the poultry farmers required regular training for effective disease management and control in their farms.
He also commended the Wenchi Municipal Office of the Veterinary Services Department, saying the existing collaboration between the poultry farmers and the Department had helped in detecting and managing potential disease outbreaks in their farms.
Mr Simon Gameli Kusorgbor, the Wenchi Municipal Veterinary Officer, also told the GNA that the FAO training exposed the poultry farmers to biosecurity and other best methods to protect their birds against diseases.
He advised the farmers to always inform the Department whenever they observed abnormalities in their farms and urged them to put their animals in good structures and use concentrates appropriately.
Mr Kusorgbor said though the vaccination of birds was good to control diseases, it was prudent that the poultry farmers vaccinate their birds only when they experienced a potential disease outbreak.
GNA