Poultry sector incurringTk 1.30b loss per month

FE Report Country's poultry industry has been incurring loss to the tune of Tk 1.30 billion per month due to higher production cost and lower prices of the poultry products, poultry sector insiders said. Local poultry industry owners said if the loss continues many farmers will be bankrupt and hundreds of poultry farms and hatcheries will be closed. "Higher production cost of the poultry birds, eggs and chicks and their fallen market price have caused us a monthly loss of Tk1.34 billion," President of Breeders Association of Bangladesh, Kazi Zahedul Hassan said. He said: "Price of an one-day-old has dropped to Tk15 to Tk18 from the earlier price of Tk40 to Tk50. But their production cost has swelled." "During the last Eid-ul-Azha prices of poultry birds and eggs dropped. On the contrary, prices of feeds, drugs and other raw materials have swelled. So, the industry has affected severely," said president of the World Poultry Science Association-Bangladesh Branch (WPSA-BB) Mr. Mashiur Rahman. Arafeen Khaled Anjan, a director of Narish Poultry Ltd, said the onset of winter has already affected the Bangladesh's poultry industry as the Avian influenza hit the farms across the country. "If the production cost continues to rise, the country's struggling poultry industry will face a serious setback again," he added. Bangladesh's Tk120 billion poultry industry is trying to revive after a major shock in 2007-2008 period when repeated outbreaks of avian influenza virus hit the farms across the country. Businessmen claimed that many small and medium farmers were forced to stop their business and many of them became bankrupt during that period. Mr. Mashiur Rahman, president of WAPSA-BB and also chief of the Paragon Group, said the affected poultry entrepreneurs have started to produce birds and eggs again by setting up new farms on bank loans. If the production cost continues to rise, the revived poultry businesses will be hit further, he said adding some 6.0 million people employed in this sector will lose their jobs. Secretary General of the Breeders Association of Bangladesh Saidur Rahman Babu said some hatcheries in Goalundo in Rajbari district have been closed due to falling market price against the growing production cost over the last couple of years. He said production cost of one kilogramme poultry bird is Tk120-Tk125 while it sells at Tk80 to Tk90 in the wholesale market. Kazi Zahedul Hassan of the Kazi Farms said since the poultry farmers do not have any smooth marketing facilities, they are forced to sell the birds and eggs to the wholesalers at a lower price. According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, there are about 150,000 poultry farms in Bangladesh, which produce 320,000 tonnes of meat and over five million eggs annually.