SMALL-SCALE female poultry farmers in Lusaka have expressed happiness at the prevailing market prices for stock feed which they have attributed to the 2009/10 bumper harvest.

Speaking in an interview in Lusaka, Mary Muzinga of Lusaka West farming bloc said the price of feed had significantly reduced and she was even contemplating increasing her batch from 250 birds to 350 birds.

Mrs Muzinga said the price of stock feed was usually low during the immediate post harvest season but noted that this year it had significantly been reduced and attributed the higher reduction margin to the increase of available maize on the open market.

Mrs Muzinga said a 50 kilogramme bag of yielding tree starter feed was currently selling at K120,000, while the same amount of grower was costing K117,000 and finisher cost K 115,000.

"The feed is much cheaper than it was last year and this is very encouraging. At least I can express happiness that my business has benefited from the bumper harvest. It is not just on paper but a reality for me and many other poultry farmers," she said.

Mrs Muzinga said she had intentions of taking advantage of the abundant readily available maize on the market to start producing her own stock feed.

She said producing her own feed would help her to further cut down on costs of rearing chickens and to also increase her profit margin.

"I am comfortable with raising 250 birds but since I want to increase to 350 birds, it will ultimately mean that I have to use more feed. For me to maintain or increase the profit margin, i have decided to start making my own feed.

"I will be buying maize from nearby villages and just take it to the milling plant which is also near my farm to mill the maize into feed. That way, I will be assured of increased profit margins in my business venture," she said.

Mrs Muzinga said women had realised the importance of looking at agriculture as a business venture and were now taking advantage of available marking opportunities with an aim of growing their business.

Another poultry farmer Linda Musunga of Kafue said the reduction in the price of feed was comforting to the farmers.

Mrs Musunga said the reduced price would help to cushion the effects of the recent upward adjustment of electricity tariffs.

She noted that raring chickens was an expensive venture which required commitment especially that it consumed high amounts of electricity.

She said when the electricity tariffs were adjusted upwards she was worried that her profit margin would significantly reduce but now that the price of stock feed had gone down following the historic bumper harvest, she was motivated and confident that she would still achieve a high profit margin.

"I was very discouraged when I heard about the increment in electricity tariffs and I wanted to stop rearing chickens, but with the reduced prices of stock feed on the market, I am motivated because the money I spend on electricity will be covered in the savings I will be making from buying feed at reduced prices.

"I am happy that this year we have abundant maize available and I am hopeful that my business will survive this phase and I can even consider increasing my batch after I sale the birds in my cage," she said.