Poultry industry seeks security from arson

Poultry industry leaders yesterday urged the government to provide them with special security for moving their vehicles during the ongoing political crisis and save them from arson.

“We are passing a very difficult time. Our supply vehicles are being attacked by the anti-government protesters,” said Moshiur Rahman, convenor of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Coordination Committee (BPICC), a group of seven associations in the poultry sector.

The government must ensure smooth movement of trucks, lorries and covered vans, which transport eggs, chicks, poultry feed, medicines and other poultry-related raw materials, Rahman said.

Rahman spoke at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity to give updates on the poultry industry battered by political volatility.

The poultry industry has incurred losses of around Tk 256 crore in the last two weeks, as violence disrupted the sector's tight supply chain, he said.

Production of day-old chicks, eggs and broiler chicken takes place on a daily basis and they have to be transported on the same day, as the farms lack storage and preservation facilities, he said.

“So, we have no other option but to kill the day-old chicks and destroy the eggs if we cannot send them out on the day.”

Blockades are forcing poultry farmers to destroy around 22 lakh day-old chicks every week, Rahman said.

"If we take into account all hartals, blockades and violent movements of the last 15 months, the total losses of the industry would be around Tk 4,500 crore.”

"We are losing our investment everyday,” said Fazle Rahim Khan Shahriar, president of Breeders' Association of Bangladesh.

In the last two weeks, about 30 percent of eggs and chickens remained unsold, he said. "If we can't do business, how will we be able to repay bank loans?"

Shahriar urged all political parties to keep vehicles laden with eggs, chicken, day-old chicks, feed, vaccine and other raw materials beyond the purview of shutdowns and blockades.

MM Khan, secretary general of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association, said the industry incurred a loss of around Tk 47 crore in the last two weeks, as around 8.5 crore eggs could not be marketed due to unavailability of transports.

In the period, the industry incurred a loss of around Tk 79 crore for chicken meat and Tk 35 crore for day-old chicks, as about 7,000 tonnes of meat and 99 lakh chicks were destroyed.

In the period, the feed industry recorded losses of Tk 73 crore, said Khondker Monsur Hossain, general secretary of Feed Industries Association Bangladesh.

Rafiqul Haque, vice-president of Animal Health Companies Association, said the poultry medicine industry suffered a loss of Tk 20 crore in the period.

Amirul Islam, senior vice president of Bangladesh Agro Feed Ingredients Importers and Traders Association, said the transport cost rose as raw materials could not be supplied in time.

The BPICC leaders also demanded incentives for poultry farmers.