AKWA POLY PLANS ESTABLISHMENT OF AUTOMATED INCUBATION CENTER TO ENHANCE POULTRY PRODUCTION
The Acting Rector of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Dr. Akanimo Jonah, has unveiled plans to establish an automated poultry incubation centre that will serve farmers in the South-South region of the country.
Dr. Jonah made the disclosure while interacting with newsmen in Ikot Ekpene, during a recent visit to the institution. He disclosed that the project is conceptualized in line with the Arise Agenda of the present administration, with a focus on developing manpower and creating sustainable means of livelihood for the teeming youths of the state.
He hinted that the facility, which will have its coordinating centre at the institution’s base in Ikot Osura, will leverage existing infrastructure such as the Mechanical Engineering Workshop, Electrical/Electronic laboratory, Mechatronics Engineering Laboratory, Computer Aided Designs (CAD) Workstation, and several others, to bring to the fore cutting-edge solutions to post-production and incubation challenges faced by poultry farmers in the state.
Dr. Jonah listed some of the expected features of the centre to include CNC Fabrication Machine, Environmental Test Chamber, Solar Panel Testing Rig, Automated PCB Printing Equipment, 3D Printer, Poultry hatching Demo, and Solar Power Manufacturing line.
He noted that the institution has signed a memorandum of understanding with some large-scale poultry farms in the South-South region to establish collaboration in the areas of designing and fabrication of egg incubation machines, development of poultry machinery, and promotion of research and training.
Also speaking, the coordinator of the project and Dean of the School of Engineering, Dr. Aniekan Ikpe, said the centre is to be structured using indigenous technology, which will see to the development of a fully automated egg incubator system with a 1000W heating capacity, designed for commercial poultry hatchery operations in Akwa Ibom State and beyond.
He said the system will integrate embedded control, precision temperature control, automated humidity regulation, programmable egg turning mechanism, and real-time monitoring with safety alerts. He noted that the facility will have a minimum hatching rate of 88% and could be compared with any system built elsewhere in the world.
Dr. Ikpe highlighted some of the unique features of the system, including durability, lower production cost, ease of maintenance, and local technology transfer.
