The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) has condemned the use of fake agrochemicals and pesticides for crops yield and preservation of poultry birds.
Mr Emeka Orajaka, Coordinator of NAFDAC in Ebonyi, stated this during farmers forum tagged, “Best Practices to maximise profits in poultry business” on Thursday in Abakaliki.
The programme was organised by Karma Agric Feeds and Foods Ltd in collaboration with the Ebonyi chapter of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN).
Orajaka said that there was need to purchase genuine products from verified source to prevent health and safety hazards.
“You must apply good agricultural practices in order to achieve good profit. Anything you are doing without good practice, will amount to nothing.
“Lack of good practice brings lots of challenges in the food industry, especially among the farmers.
“You can imagine when people use bad chemicals for farming and for preservation of food. Bad chemicals, when used, can retain in the body of plants or animals and these become a threat to human health when consumed,’’ he said.
According to him, pesticides and agrochemical play a significant role in agric valued chains in preservation, loses reduction and improve crop yield.
“Indiscriminate use of agrochemical is of a great concern to NAFDAC. That is why we only approve competent dealers for distribution of agrochemicals.
“We must desist from such bad chemicals in our modern days agricultural,” Orajaka advised.
In his address, Mr Peace Obawo, National Sales Manager of Karma Agric Feeds and Foods Ltd, said the programme became necessary to educate farmers on the proper use of feed and medications in their poultry.
He added that the major aim of the programme was to enlighten the farmers on the need to maximise business profits.
He further identified counterfeit agrochemicals as harmful and urged farmers to desist from using it.
A Poultry farmer, Joy Egbo, thanked Karma Company and NAFDAC for the programme and pledged to promote the use of the approved agrochemicals.
