Poultry farmers and dealers have voiced concern over smuggling of chicks to neighbouring Afghanistan, which has created difficulties to meet local demand and supply and urged the authorities concerned to take prompt action to stop illegal supplying of chicks from Torkham border and other routes.
Speaking at a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday, Poultry Farms Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Ashraf Khattak said that the poultry is the second largest sector after textile industry, which has provided direct and indirect employment at a large number as well as source of cheapest protein.
But, he said the poultry sector is being faced many issues, particularly shortage of chicks. He said the chicks were smuggled via Torkham border and other routes to neighbouring Afghanistan that has created difficulties to meet demand in local market.
Flanked by the association office-bearers, and poultry dealers, Khalid Khan, Abdul Hamid, Zahoor Ahmad and others, he claimed that around 0.5 million chicks were smuggled to Afghanistan on daily basis, which is immensely suffered the poultry sector.
Khattak informed that more than five million chicks are required to fulfill the local requirement. He added that chicks are not available with farmers, due to which they were compelled to shut their businesses, which would trigger unemployment to hundreds of people, attached with this sector.
He feared that if the smuggling of chicks was not stopped forthwith, the prices of chicken meat would further increase up to Rs 300 per kilogram in local market. He said the prices have increased due to surge in rate of fodder.
"We are not against the export of chicks to Afghanistan", but the local requirement should be fulfilled first, which would be made possible by taking action against smuggling of chicks," Khattak said.