MULTAN,Nov 15th: Chicken price went up to Rs.200 per kg in Multan market as majority of grand parent poultry farms has been closed which has squeezed supply of one-day-old chicks, pushing up poultry prices in the market. High poultry feed rates have also played a role in the chicken price increase.Pakistan Poultry Association’s former chairman Syed Tashir Ali Zaidi stated this said only two grand parent stock producing units out of five were operating and even these units had to curtail their production due to very low demand in 2008. He said prices of one-day-old chicks dipped to as low as Re1 during depression in the poultry sector in 2008.Elaborating his point, he said grand parent and parent breeding stock was like any seed which had a multiplying effect. One grand parent produces 40 parents and one parent produces 120 chicks.He said 40 per cent of parent stock producing units also closed down in 2008, adding the depression was so severe that the producers culled parent birds each worth Rs1,500 as cost of feeding them was higher than the cost of one-day-old chicks.He claimed chicken prices had still not increased to the level that could cover food inflation in the country.
However, he said poultry farmers were as much concerned about the high chicken rates as were the consumers. “Increase in chicken rates dampens demand and shrinks the industry.”He said capacities were being increased again and a reduction in chicken prices would be visible after four months. He predicted chicken rates might even go below the production cost in 2011 and 2012.He said prices of one-day-old chicks had eased from a peak of Rs55 to Rs85 as supplies increased but were still much higher due to rise in demand.He urged the government to waive five per cent duty on imports of chicken grand parent and parent stocks which would reduce cost of chicken meat in the country.However, he cautioned prices would not touch historic lows as long as rates of poultry feed remained high. Poultry feed rates increased by 70 per cent between 2007 and 2009, he said, adding poultry feed accounted for 80 per cent of the cost of production of poultry farms (prior to the abnormal increase in one-day-old chick prices which was a temporary phenomenon). He said the poultry industry expanded production rapidly from 483 million broiler chickens to 830 million from 2003 to 2005. Chicken meat production during that period increased from 869 million kg to 1,494 million kg. Per capita chicken meat consumption, he added, stood at 5.7 kg.He said the chicken processing industry in the country was in its infancy. The processing industry could provide cushion against wild fluctuations in chicken meat rates as it operated in an organised manner and produced meat in a more hygienic way, he said, adding instead of encouraging the chicken meat processing industry the government was creating hurdles in its operations.Under SRO 1261(I)/2007 implemented from January 1 this year, he said, duty-free imports of all chicken meat products including value added chicken products like nuggets, burger patties, breast fillet, sausages, etc were allowed from Malaysia. That greatly encouraged imports of finished products from Malaysia .One local producer of nuggets, burger patties and others had already stopped production and started marketing imported products. “This is benefiting major multinational fast food outlets and five-star hotels and sidelining the local chicken meat processing industry."
Zaidi said neighbouring India imposed 100 per cent duty on imports of processed chicken meat in order to encourage investment in local processing units. Imports of chicken feed containing pork was banned in Pakistan, but surprisingly processed chicken meat produced from poultry feed containing pork was allowed, he pointed out.