Poultry farmers trained in feed formulation to cut costs

Poultry Farmers in the central region have been trained on how to formulate locally made feeds to cut costs while increasing profits.

The training, held at Bingu National Stadium conference room in Lilongwe was hosted by Incubators Malawi with Professor Timothy Gondwe from the Department of Animal Science at Bunda College of Agriculture as trainer.

Professor Gondwe said “locally made feeds cut costs by 50 percent and that translates to around 40 percent increase in gross margins compared to using commercially bought feed”.

Gondwe taught the farmers that they are guaranteed of consistency in quality of feeds, leading to uniform product.

He said most ingredients required in large quantities are locally available and this cuts transport costs adding only a few ingredients are easily found in vet shops and require a one time buy, hence affordable.

“By producing own feed and subsequently low cost, it makes small scale farmers to break even at small numbers as 200”.

“It needs over 500 to breakeven with commercial bought feed” Professor Gondwe said.

One of the participants of the training, Ernest Chikonga expressed during the training that he has been making his own feed but had not calculated the costs.

“I was making my own feed and basically using ingredients which i grew: soya and maize. Unfortunately i was not costing the ingredients. but i knew this was cost effective”.

Chikonga said the training was beneficial as it introduced him and fellow participants to basic aspects of feed production.

“I now know we need energy, protein and minerals in feed and the right compositions. in addition i have learnt how to cost my feed” he said.

The training is the first of its kind under Incubators Malawi and 2 more are set for Blantyre and Mzuzu respectively. Dates and venues are yet to be announced.

Incubators Malawi,  manufacters and sells locally made incubators but they also are organising professional training to Poultry farmers empowering them with the knowledge and skill set for better productivity.

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