Broiler chicken, egg prices go up again

Farm chicken and egg have become pricier again augmenting owes of the limited income people further.

Broiler chicken price shot up to Tk 180-190 a kg on Friday marking a Tk 20-25 hike per kg in a week, according to the kitchen market sources.

Pakistani or Sonali chicken prices showed Tk 30-40 hike per kg as it was selling at Tk 300-330 a kg.

Indigenous chicken was retailing at Tk 550-600 a kg.

The state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) found a 15-per cent hike in broiler chicken prices in a week.

Brown farm egg price has also further increased to Tk 140-150 a dozen marking Tk 10 surge per dozen, according to grocers.

TCB recorded 5.0 per cent hike in egg prices in a week and 22 per cent in a month.

Md Alamgir, a chicken vendor at Rayer Bazar area in the city, said prices have been increasing for last three weeks at farm levels.

He said per quintal (100 kg) price of broiler chicken increased to Tk 16,000 from Tk 13, 000 at farms in Savar, Dhamrai, Nowabganj, Tangail, Manikganj, Sirajganj, Cumilla in last three weeks.

The price might surge further before the Ramadan month set to begin from the later days of March, he said.

Helal Uddin, a poultry farm owner at Atgharia in Panna, said half of farms are still closed since 2020 COVID induced lockdown.

Only 50 per cent farms are operating now in our locality, he said.

He said production costs surged by 80-90 per cent in last one and a half years amid rocketing costs of poultry feed, transportations, a hike in electricity, day old chickens (DOCs) and other inputs.

He said minimum price of quality feed is now Tk 65 a kg.

He said production costs increased to above Tk 148 a kg amid the surge in input costs.

He said the same thing happened with egg.

The production cost of brown egg is now Tk 9.30-9.50, he said.

Bangladesh Egg Producers Association president Taher Ahmed Siddiqi said the government will have to take initiative to minimise feed and DOC costs to lessen poultry prices.

He said poultry farm should get facilities like that of agricultural industry in terms of electricity charge as well as bank loan interests.

Consumers Association of Bangladesh Secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan said prices of essentials have witnessed another surge in recent weeks hitting the poor hard.

He said coarse rice, coarse flour or atta, farm egg, broiler chicken, cultured fish and potato are key food sources for millions of poor in the country.

Prices of all those products have increased notably again amid loose monitoring of the government, he said.

Stricter vigilance is needed to prevent any artificial hike, he said.

He said prices of poultry input should be reduced as well as farmers will have to be incentivised to keep poultry items within the reach of commoners.

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