Dormaa Ahenkro (B/A), Nov. 28 GNA - Bio-security schools would soon be established in poultry concentrated areas in the country to help to update poultry farmers in basic cultural practices to avoid the spread of poultry-related pests and diseases.

Mr Ken Quartey, member of the National Poultry Development Board, announced this at a day's workshop on bio-security for poultry farmers at Dormaa Ahenkro in the Brong Ahafo Region.

He said the Board in collaboration with the Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture would establish the schools. Mr Quartey explained that "if all poultry farmers would learn to comply with basic tenets of bio-security, the chunk of financial losses that they suffered each year would be reduced tremendously". The workshop was part of the Board's tour of poultry establishments in Brong Ahafo to educate the farmers on the need to employ basic bio-security on their farms to ward off viral diseases. He said the schools to be established would each comprise at least 10 farmers, who would meet regularly to discuss experiences and also receive technical advice from veterinary officers.

Mr Quartey explained that bio-security was not a new phenomenon in the poultry industry, saying it was simply the natural means of maintaining cleanliness and other forms of approved cultural practices on the farm.

"It is important that poultry farmers hedge their farms against diseases through proper fencing for the farms and providing access routes for both human and vehicular use from the gates", he said. He said the Board was committed to the realization of the objectives for which it was its set up by the Government. The objectives, he said included the rigorous promotion of the modernization and processing of poultry products for domestic consumption and for export, as well as the avoidance of practices that had the potential to cause shortage or glut of poultry products in the country.

Mr Quartey noted that even though the bird flu scare had reduced it would not be prudent for poultry farmers in Ghana to be complacent but to keep to practices that would not allow the flu onto their farms. Mr Benjamin Quaye, also a member of the Board, stated that the industry had a bright future in the country and appealed to the farmers to always target their best practices for the maximization of profits and the creation of more jobs.

Dr Agyemang Kontoh, Brong Ahafo Regional Veterinary Officer, took the farmers through the symptoms of the Avian Influenza and urged them to report any abnormal behaviour among the birds for immediate action. In an open forum the farmers complained about the high cost of wheat brand and other inputs for the upkeep of their farms, which they attributed to their inability to access them directly from the wholesalers.

They also renewed their appeal to the Government to site a poultry processing plant in the Dormaa District to help to reduce post-production losses on their farms.