Chicken prices shoot up

High incubation and upbringing cost and massive mortality of broilers during recent heat waves have escalated chicken prices up to Rs 90 per kg. The consumers, whose purchasing power has been eroded by the recent price hike in essential commodities, including meat, have been demanding for a mechanism to keep a permanent check on the prices of essential commodities.
The recent hike in prices has made almost impossible for the common man to afford chicken.
"Buying chicken is no longer an option for the middle class as it is being sold at Rs 90 per kg in summer when its prices normally go down," said a chicken buyer.
However, Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) Chairman Dr Hasan Sarosh Akram said the recent increase in the prices is due to increase in production cost and massive mortality in broilers during recent hot weather which led to shortage in supply.
"The cost of feed has increased to Rs 425 per 40-kg bag against previous price of Rs 325, whereas poultry industry suffered a massive mortality of 3.5 million birds in recent hot weather" he said.
He said the government of India not only ensures low cost of productivity commodities but also provides subsidy in electricity, while Pak industry got no relief despite contributing 9 percent in the total 30 percent share of livestock in the GDP.
Hasan said that poultry industry needs to complete a 12-month cycle to produce another generation of broilers and any disruption in this cycle leads to less supply.
He said that last year bird flu severely dented the poultry industry and caused over Rs 6 billion loss. "As a result, many investors shifted their capital and approximately 35 percent poultry farms were closed down across the country," he added.
He, however, said that the industry was grappling with multiple problems and needs government support to recover.
He said that in 2004 eggs production stood at 8247 million and poultry meat at 402,000 tons, with a running capital of Rs 70 billion. Besides, the industry has more than Rs 60 billion in the form of fixed assets.
Prices list available with Institute of Agriculture Research Council Rawalpindi also showed an increase of Rs 100 in the prices of different feeds during last year.
The list shows an invariable upward trend in the prices of chick starter, chick grower, layers-mash, broiler starter, broiler finisher breeder ration and others.