Drop in the price of chicken, meanwhile, has led to drop in prices of feed and chicks as well.[break]
This is the second drop in price in less than a week. On Thursday, poultry entrepreneurs had reduced price by Rs 15 per kg citing the same reason.
According to traders, chicken price in the capital has been continuously going down due to increase in supplies from Tarai districts. Earlier, traders in the capital were sourcing chicken from neighboring districts like Dhading, Nuwakot and Kavre. These days they are buying chicken from farmers in Tarai districts as chicken supplied by farms there are comparatively cheaper. Traders say farmers in Tarai districts are supplying live chicken at as low as Rs 130 per kg.
With the fresh adjustment in price, price of live chicken has come down by Rs 15 per kg. This means farmers are getting Rs 150 for a kg of live chicken.
Farmers have said they are not getting good prices for their products. They say their production cost hovers above Rs 150 per kg.
Janga Bahadur BC, president of National Chicken Sellers´ Association, said cost of production is cheaper in Tarai districts as chicks grow faster there. “Also, demand for chicken is currently lower in Tarai districts due to Chhath festival,” he added.
Following drop in chicken prices, hatcheries have lowered the price of chicks in the capital. “We have reduced price of chicks by Rs 5 per head to Rs 35 due to drop in demand,” said Narayan Hari Khatri, proprietor of Ahsapuri Hatchery and immediate past president of Feed Industries Association.
Chick price had come down by Rs 10 to Rs 40 per head last week.
“We have also reduced the price of broiler feed by Rs 1.5 per kg and layers feed by Re 1 per kg,” said Khatri.
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