CHICKEN FEED PROTOTYPE UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
By: Nanai Taofiga Laveitiga Tuiletufuga
The prices for eggs is beginning to take a dive and a 50% reduction for a dozen of eggs retail is slowly beginning to hatch.
There is also renewed hope that the Government’s vision for chicken import substitution drive is unfolding.
The break-through, according to Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Lopao’o Natanielu Mua is one the fruits of hard labour from the China-Samoa Intergovernmental Agricultural Technical Cooperation.
“We have developed a prototype chicken feed using local ingredients such as avocado, muroberry and fish mills,” the Minister told Parliament, “I am confident it will be perfected and will soon be available for our local poultry farmers.
“The break through follows years of testing and experimentation through our long standing partnership with China and it’s also a quantum leap to the Government’s long standing policy to reduce reliance on imported eggs and chicken meat.”
“Reducing operational costs for our poultry farmers will force eggs retail prices to drop,” the Minister continued adding import substitution for exported chicken is also on the menu.
“The import substitution vision remains an excellent one which will prove effective because consumers preferred to buy fresh domestic eggs and chicken at lower retail prices,” he said.
The possibility that chicken feed can be processed locally using local crops and other ingredients eliminating the expensive imported feeds is a dream realised for pioneer Poultry Farm Owner, Taimalie Charlie Westerlund.
Taimale says one of the long standing strategies developed by the Tanumapua Farm Strategic Plan include eliminating imported expensive chicken feed because it would reduce local prices and contribute to Samoa’s GDP and Foreign Reserves.
“We import six containers of feed every month which is quite expensive and reflected on the retail egg prices,” said Taimalie.
“To reduce the costs, we wanted to produce chicken feed using local crops,” said Taimalie.
He added that locally manufactured Chicken Feed on trial will also be huge for the industry and a springboard for the Tanumapua Farm to revisit their import substitution strategy.
And the target; to reduce chicken imports by 50%.
“Samoa imports 60 containers of chicken meat every month and with all the ingredients in place, we can slash that in half to begin with,” says Taimalie.
He is using the success of his Tanumapua Poultry Farm which, he says, now accounts for 75% of local egg retail.
“The egg farm is proof that producing our own chicken can be done.
“Our eggs are of a higher and healthier quality and, certainly much fresher than imported eggs. And prices we are offering are very reasonable too.”
But for chicken import substitution to take off, Taimalie says he’ll need to bring in chicken bred specifically for its meat.
“We only have layers at the moment. But it is not our main concern. What is more challenging is securing a local source of chicken feed.”
“These investments are not cheap and costly especially for our partners in the Private Sector and Government is fortunate to partner with our entrepreneurs like Taimalie to lead at the front,” echoed the Agriculture Minister.
Lopao’o noted that the successful breakthrough has also re-opened possibilities that includes resurrecting the Feed Mill Processing Plant for all livestock.
“It’s work in progress and we’re banking on the successful scientific research work by SROS, (Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa) to pattern a compatible and suitable formula to process and manufacture animal feeds on the local front with our available agricultural crops and resources as the main ingredients,” the Minister concluded.
