Poultry farmers in a double bind
Poultry farmers, who have already been hit hard by the pandemic, are struggling to survive due to low prices of chicken currently prevailing in the market coupled with a sharp rise in feed prices.
Farmers running small and medium operations are in the most critical condition as they have no way to recoup losses incurred ever since the coronavirus outbreak began in March 2020.
Shahid Hossain Mithu, a poultry farmer who raised 5,000 chickens in Jashore, said he spent Tk 165 on an average to feed each broiler chicken that gained weight to reach two kilogrammes (kg) within 36 days of hatching.
"It costs Tk 35 to Tk 40 to buy chicks from breeders but since full grown chicken currently sell for between Tk 95 and Tk 100 per kg, I have had to count a loss of about Tk 5 to Tk 10 per bird," he added.
Multiple farmers said the high price of feed and low price of chicken were the main reasons behind their losses.
This is especially true for farmers with small-scale operations who cannot breed their own chicks or produce their own feed.
In the past three months, the price of each 50-kg sack of feed increased twice by 13.6 per cent to hit Tk 2,500 from Tk 2,200, according to various farmers and feed sellers.
Around seven to eight lakh tonnes of feed is required by poultry farmers across the country each month and thanks to the prevailing situation, many farmers having small and medium-sized operations are closing up shop.
During the pre-pandemic era, about six or seven million people were involved in poultry farming, said Md Anwarul Haque Beg, a professor of the department of poultry science at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University.
Although there are no exact figures on how many farmers have shut their businesses till date, the number is definitely considerable.
On the other hand, big farms have been able to stay afloat and even earn extra profits to an extent as they are involved in all facets of the industry, namely breeding, feed processing, and selling whole or processed chicken.
Besides, since most raw materials and additives used in poultry feed are imported, the pandemic-induced disruptions to the supply chain have caused prices to skyrocket.
As a result, feed production costs have increased by 25 per cent to 30 per cent in the last three months, Beg said.
The price of maize and soybean meal, which make up 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the feed, has increased by 50 per cent to about Tk 30 and Tk 53 respectively since 2019, he added.
The increased price of maize and soybean meal contributes 3 per cent to 4 per cent of the current feed prices.
In June, the price of broiler chicken feed was around Tk 50 per kg while it currently stands at about Tk 53. Similarly, other types of feed that used to cost between Tk 41 to Tk 46 per kg now cost Tk 43 to Tk 48 for the same amount.
Meanwhile, the cost of production of broiler chickens has increased by 9 per cent in the last three years.
"So, there is no profit in broiler chicken farming at present," Beg said.
Md Rakibur Rahman, owner of Nahar Agro and president of the Breeders Association of Bangladesh, said the price at which shopkeepers were buying chicken from farms was far less than its production value.
"Farmers are not getting their expected prices due to lower consumption amid the Covid-19 situation and since farmers need fewer chicks now, many hatcheries have also shut down," he added.
Over eight crore chickens are produced every month across the country while about 4.5 crore eggs are produced each day.
Many feed mills are also closing down due to high raw material costs at the international level.
So, like poultry farmers, small feed mills are also facing severe losses, leading to their closure, Rahman added.
According to farmers and experts, it is necessary to ensure a fixed selling price for chicks, feed, broiler chicken and eggs in line with production costs to ensure the survival of poultry farmers and feed mills.
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