Price of chicken has dropped by at least Rs 20 per kg in Chitwan, thanks to gradual rise in production. But the traders, who used to immediately react to price hike in supplying district, have not lowered their prices.
Poultry entrepreneurs in Chitwan said price of chicken in the district has dropped to Rs 200 from Rs 220 per kg due to increased supplies as farmers are increasing chicken stock in their farms. However, chicken price in the capital still hovers around Rs 250 per kg.
“The number of broiler chicken in poultry farms across the country has increased to 700,000 heads, up from 600,000 heads a couple of weeks back,” Guna Chandra Bista, former president of Nepal Hatchery Association, told myrepublica.com on Sunday. “Production of Chicken has also shot up by 50,000 kg per day to 200,000 kg across the country.”
Despite the improvement in supplies, Nepali market, however, is facing a deficit of 50,000 kg of chicken per day. “We are still experiencing short supply of broiler chicks by 200,000 to 300,000 heads per week, against the demand of around one million heads. Poultry farmers aren´t getting adequate chicks for their farms,” Bista, who is the managing director of Chitwan-based Abinash Hatchery -- one of the largest hatcheries in the country.
Janga Bahadur BC, general secretary of Chicken Sellers Association - a forum of valley-based chicken suppliers, said the capital city was still facing shortage of chicken despite increased production in Chitwan.
Tikaram Pokharel, president of Nepal Poultry Entrepreneurs Forum -- an umbrella organization of poultry producers, said supplies of chicken to the capital has significantly increased for the last few days. Pokharel also estimated that price of chicken to go slightly down in coming days, as chicken production is expected to increase in the next couple of months.
He, however, added that the price of eggs in Chitwan has gone up to Rs 190 per crate (30 units) from Rs 180 due to low production. Chitwan contributes more than 70 percent of egg supplies in the capital city. Pokharel said production of eggs had declined by 30 percent as compared to the figure of a couple of months back. Poultry farms across the country produce around 2.5 million eggs per day.
Chicken population (both broilers and layers) in the country depleted significantly, following the outbreak of bird flu in eastern Nepal early this year. Insufficient number of chicks in the farms triggered short supply of chicken, pushing up the prices to new high. According to traders, chicken supplies dropped by more than one-third in the market as compared to the supplies under normal conditions.
prabhakar@myrepublica.com
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