Chicken meat prices up by 20pc

Chicken meat prices shot up by up to 20 per cent in the city amid decline in production at growers' end due to higher temperature, traders said.

Maintaining a static price range  for the last three months, chicken meat including broiler, Pakistani and local varieties increased by 15 per cent, 25 per cent and 20 per cent respectively in the city in a week.

Traders said higher temperature in the April-May period caused a decline in poultry production, which is responsible for the present hike.

Broiler chicken was sold at Tk155-160 per kg in the key kitchen markets of the city on Monday, which was Tk135-140 per kg a week back-a 15 per cent increase.

Pakistani variety was sold at Tk250-260 (medium sized) and Tk350-360 (big sized) per piece, which was Tk200-220 and Tk300-320 per piece respectively seven days back, Ataur Rahman, a retailer at Banalata Kancha Bazar, a kitchen market in the Newmarket area, said.  

He said local varieties were sold at Tk320-350 (medium sized) and Tk450-500 (big) per piece-a 20 per cent hike.

"I bought 100 medium sized Pakistani chickens at Tk 24,000 from a farm at Bossila in the city today that was Tk10000-10500 few days back," he said.

He said that broiler prices have increased recently at the farm level in Gazipur, Tangail, Savar that had an impact on the retail prices.

Md Amanullah Rasel, a poultry farm owner at Kumarjani area under Mirzapur upazila in Tangail district, told the FE over phone that the prevailing high temperature caused decline in production.

"Egg production has also reduced following the hot spell" he said.

"Decline in production and significant increase in feed prices have made it tough to continue our business" he said.

Breeders Association of Bangladesh secretary Saidur Rahman Babu told the FE  that hot weather caused 'anorexia'-or aversion to food intake- among the birds which caused significant fall in production--nearly by20-25 per cent.

The rate of bird flu has reduced significantly in 2013-14 which gave some sort of relief but the hot spell caused hazards," Babu said.

"But the condition may improve, thanks to the rainfall in recent days," he said.  

According to the Department of Livestock Services (DLS), the country's 75,000 commercial poultry farms provide 6.0 million tonnes of chicken meat annually, accounting for 45 per cent of the total protein the country consumes.