The Nigerian Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) has pledged its commitment to register additional 30 feed mills from now to December in addition to the 20 registered so far.
Prof. Eustace Iyayi, the Registrar of the institute gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
Iyayi said that the registration would ensure that feed mills produced by the industries were of standard.
He said that the measure would avail livestock producers using finished feed mills opportunity of knowing which companies had been inspected and production process certified by the institute.
The registrar, who noted that plans were on to achieve the set target, emphasised that registration of feed mills industries required lots of processes including an inspection.
According to him, three out of the targeted 30 feed mills have already been inspected.
“The purpose of registering feed mills is to let livestock producers who use finished feed know the companies whose premises have been inspected and their production process certified as compliant by NIAS.
“As of 2019, we had about 20 registered feed mills across the six geopolitical zones in the country and this year we are looking forward to doing more. We are looking at registering 30 more feed mills.
“The ones that we have registered, we are confident that they are operating according to the best standard,” he said.
The registrar commended the Federal Government for its financial support among others to the industry so far.
He, however, solicited for more supports, especially in the area of funding to enable the institute to achieve its set targets and to effectively execute its mandates.
NAN reports that NIAS was established by Act No. 26 of 2007 as amended in 2015 to regulate all matters pertaining to animal husbandry in Nigeria.
This includes the advancement of education, science, technology and the art of animal science and livestock production.