Poultry to go dearer down the line: farmers

KARACHI: The poultry production declined around 40 percent in the last quarter, resulting in a significant surge in prices, which are expected to hike further, once marriage halls and restaurants reopen, sector officials said on Monday.

“The production increased in the last six months surpassing demand. Due to higher production against lesser demand, the farmers suffered severe losses and a large number of farms were closed. As the production declined around 40 percent, the prices were bound to surge,” said Khalil Sattar, a spokesperson for the poultry association.

Sattar said farmers had suffered losses in the last six months, which compelled them to either shut down farms or switch the line of business. “The demand remains stagnant, while variation in production impacts the prices,” he said.

The association spokesman said there were 30,000 poultry farms in the country and now most of them had been shut down. “The production was way higher in the last few months and farmers had to distribute the chicken for free,” he added.

The price of chicken has spiked around 30 percent since last month from Rs240/kg to currently Rs350/kg. Sattar said the lockdown had nothing to do with the price surge; however, prices would increase once the lockdown was lifted.

He dispelled the perception the prices shot up due to hoarding, saying perishable products such as chicken could not be hoarded as this would cause even more losses to the farmers. Prices of beef, veal and mutton also increased in the past month, wherein mutton surged to Rs1,300/kg from Rs1,150 and veal prices surged to Rs700/kg from Rs650/kg.

Syed Anwar Kamal, a meat trader, said rates of meat surged due to supply issues. “I don’t think there is any impact on production but there are serious supply constraints due to the lockdown, which increase the cost.”