Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
The prices of broiler chicken, the key protein source for commoners, have witnessed a substantial hike in Dhaka city in the past few days.
The item shot up to Tk 150-170 a kilogram based on areas of the city on Monday. It was Tk 115-130 a week ago.
Traders in Dhaka attributed this hike to disruptions to supply chain for the ongoing lockdown in various districts creating scarcity of day-old-chicken (DOC).
Many of the farms have stopped production of DOCs and poultry meat amid a drastic fall in prices during the March-April period amid lockdown, he said.
However, the prices of layer, Sonali and indigenous chicken also showed slight hike in a week in the city.
The state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) averaged a 45-per cent hike in broiler chicken prices in four days.
Sattar Hossain, a chicken vendor at Sadeq Khan Krishi Market, said poultry farmers have been selling fowls at Tk 145-150 a kg in Keraniganj and Savar for days.
It was Tk 95-105 a kg a week back, he added.
Many farms have closed their operation that caused a shortage of products, he told the FE.
Mr Hossain said prices of Sonali and Pakistani varieties of chicken also rose by Tk 15-20 a kg.
"We are purchasing those varieties at Tk 210-220 from farms and selling at Tk 240-260 a kg," he mentioned.
Mr Hossain said imports of chickens from Sirajganj, Bogura, Naogaon, Natore, Pabna and other poultry hubs, have almost stopped causing a surge in prices.
Lokman Hakim, a poultry farmer at East Rajashon in Savar, said he was collecting DOCs from Gazipur at a much higher rate.
"All the DOC producers in my locality have stopped operations amid a massive fall in prices in April."
Mr Hakim said it cost him Tk 50 to collect a single DOC from a farm in Gazipur. It was Tk 12-14 weeks back.
He said feed prices are still the same at Tk 42-45 a kg, adding that it costs approximately Tk 135 to produce a kilogram of DOC.
Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council (BPICC) president Moshiur Rahman said the sector is going through a critical phase for supply disruptions due to coronavirus pandemic.
Many farms are witnessing shortages of DOCs when big farms were forced to stop production for a low demand during the March-April period, he added.
Mr Rahman said many farms even culled thousands of DOCs in April for low prices as small and medium farms began stopping production of eggs and broiler chicken.
Egg is still selling at Tk 4.5-5.0 apiece at farm level in Bogura, Sirajganj, Tangail, Gazipur, Savar, Dhamrai, Keraniganj, Brahmanbaria, Cumilla and other places against production costs of Tk 6.0-6.5.
Broiler chicken retails at Tk 80-90 a kg at farm level in different districts against production costs of Tk 118-137, Mr Rahman cited.
According to the Department of Livestock Service (DLS), the country's 76,000 poultry farms produce 40 million eggs and 15,800 tonnes of chicken meat a day.
Of the amount, 22-25 per cent are traded in Dhaka, it disclosed.