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After a decade of continuous growth, the poultry sector that meets 36 per cent of the human protein intake in the country is facing multifarious challenges.
Sector insiders say the minnows in the business are finding it tough to stay in the fray as big farms are enjoying all state facilities.
On the other hand, experts say it remains a big challenge to ensure antibiotic-free poultry meat and egg production in the second largest employment-generating sector.
Unauthorised marketing and sale of antibiotics from drug stores are among the causes of grave concerns, they think.
According to data available with the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, about 36 per cent of human protein intake comes from poultry in the country.
Khondoker Md Mohsin, joint secretary general of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association (BPIA), said the poultry sector is passing through a tough time.
The small and medium enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs are leaving this sector due to lack of working capital, he told the FE.
Small poultry farmers are now facing hard times as they are not getting proper support from the government and banks as well, he said.
Being unable to cope with the financial losses, they are now winding up their business and, on the other hand, the large poultry farms are taking all state facilities, Mr Mohsin said.
About 80 per cent of the poultry farmers, who are small entrepreneurs, are getting support including technology from the Indian government, but what is happening in Bangladesh is totally reverse, he said.
The large farms here are getting priority in access to state facilities, he added.
The number of poultry farms and the poultry population are declining day by day due to this factor, the BPIA joint secretary general said.
However, all state-of-the-art technology including robotics is being used in this sector for development of it, he added.
The poultry population in the country had been witnessing a sharp rise since the fiscal year 2008-09, thanks to the hard work of commercial farmers.
The total poultry population stood at nearly 347.03 million in the FY 2019-the chicken population was about 289.28 million and ducks about 57.75 million, according to the DLS.
The poultry population was estimated at about 262.62 million in the FY '09 with the chicken population at about 221.39 million and ducks at about 41.23 million, the DLS data show.
The poultry sector in the country comprises both layer farms and broiler farms.
The sector commercially produces 10.22 billion eggs and 1.46 million tonnes of poultry meat annually, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Egg production surged to 17.11 billion pieces in the FY 2019 from 4.96 billion in the FY '09, the DLS data suggest.
The production of egg increased threefold in a decade, raising the size of the market in the country to around Tk 115 billion, according to the sector insiders.
As many as 81,425 poultry farms got registered until August 2019, the department's data show.
Of them, 54,411 were broiler farms, 18,954 layer farms, 7,829 duck farms and 231 were other types of farms.
The DLS registered 226 feed factories across the country until August 2019. Of them, 84 got their registration renewed.
Dr M Nazrul Islam, president of Animal Health Companies Association of Bangladesh (AHCAB), said the sector witnessed continuous growth in one decade due to great efforts of the country's poultry farmers.
There is an annual demand for 7.297 million tonnes of meat in the country as measured on the basis of 120 grams per head against the production of 7.514 million tonnes including chicken in the fiscal year 2018-19, he said. This shows a surplus production, he added.
He, however, rued the propaganda against poultry meat in different forms of media where it is viewed as a health hazard that is hurting the industry to a great extent. It should be stopped anyway in the greater interest of the sector, he said.
Another blow to the poultry sector is, it is still not incorporated into the industry under the low electricity billing segment like the agriculture sector, Mr Nazrul said.
The entrepreneurs should get their access to bank loans at a single-digit interest rate for further development of the sector, he emphasised.
Dr Sharif Ahmed Chowdhury, former chief scientific officer at the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI), said all credit goes to the young and educated entrepreneurs who made great efforts to help this important sector grow steadily since the mid-nineties.
This sector is creating both self-employment and wage-based employment and thus reducing the country's unemployment problem, he told the FE.
However, to ensure public health safety, the Ministry of Commerce should work with the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock to have a functional quality control system for exported and imported meat and meat products, Dr Sharif added.
Dr ABM Khaleduzzaman, DLS assistant director (farm), said contribution of the DLS in developing the sector is very visible.
The DLS is providing the services and training as required by the poultry farmers, he told the FE.
Young and educated entrepreneurs are helping significantly in development of the sector, Dr Khaleduzzaman said.
Apart from this, the government's appropriate policy, measures and other forms of support are also helping the sector grow, he added.
Use of modern technology as is done in different other countries can help accelerate further development of the sector, Khaleduzzaman said.
Dr Md Elias Hossain, head of poultry science at the Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, said poultry is an important avenue of fostering agricultural growth and reducing malnutrition of the people here.
It is the second largest employment and number-one self-employment generating sector. More than 6.0 million (60 lakh) people are involved in this sector, he told the FE.
The major problems facing the sector are uncontrolled DOC (day-old chick) supply, high prices of feed, unorganised marketing system, shortage of poultry processing facilities, and high and fluctuating prices of feed ingredients, he pointed out.
Other challenges include lack of quality control of feeds, use of antibiotics in poultry production, threat of epidemics like avian influenza, unplanned growth of poultry farms around cities and no biosecurity guidelines, Dr. Elias said.
The poultry industry was hit by bird flu outbreaks in 2007, 2009 and 2011. The number of firms fell to 55,000 in 2013 from 115,000 in 2007 due to the outbreak of diseases, coupled with other problems, according to a study report.