Cut in input cost of raising chickens demanded

LAHORE: Broiler farmers have called for reducing the input cost of raising chickens, implementation of the agricultural electricity tariff on poultry farms and snubbing the illegitimate profit being earned by the middle men to provide chicken meat to the masses at reasonable rates.

The general sales tax (GST) on the import of soyabean, an important ingredient of the poultry feed, was 10 per cent, which has been increased to 17 per cent in the recent budget, despite claims of reducing it.

The taxation on various ingredients of poultry feed has resulted in pushing the prices of 50kg feed to Rs3,700/bag from Rs1,900/bag some three years ago.

Similarly, maize, another nutritious ingredient of the poultry feed, is being exported unbridled this year, which has jacked up its prices in the local market; thus, multiplying the input cost of the poultry farmers.

A representative body of the poultry farmers, Broiler Farmers Association (BFA) chairman Sardar Tajjamal and general secretary Rana Amir stated this, while talking to the members of the Agricultural Journalists Association (AJA) on Thursday.

They claimed that the subsidy on electricity tariff for poultry farms had almost been withdrawn and now they were paying industrial tariff, which has also increased the poultry chicken meat prices.

Around 26,000 broiler farms are operational in the province, which also fulfill the needs of Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, they said, and claimed that the fixation of price of chicken meat is purely on a demand-supply basis. Lahore consumes around 3.2 million kilogrammes of chicken meat daily, while the production is at its peak right now.

The broiler association fixes the farm gate price across the province and then it is conveyed to the district administration for notification, they said, adding that around 4,000 vehicles loaded with live chicken reach Lahore daily, of which 3,800 directly approach the meat sellers.

At present, chicken costs Rs200/kg (Live) at the farm gate.

Sardar Tajjamal said that a group of 14 people were controlling the chicken meat business in Lahore and they were depriving the farmers of their due price by making unjustifiable deductions in the farm gate price.

The government allows Rs8/kg to traders and Rs8 to retailers of the chicken meat as their margin, he said, adding that harsh weather plays a role in lowering the production of poultry, as chicken does not gain weight in extreme heat or winter.

He claimed that was the reason the prices were higher during Ramazan and Eid-ul-Fitr and said on an average a farm has 30,000 chicks and they should be around 75,000 kilogrammes of weight at maturity but during that period chicks could only gain 45,000 to 50,000 kilogrammes of weight; thus, negatively impacting the production.

The Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) does not represent farmers but the feed millers who try to manipulate the whole trade. The PPA members could be called breeders, as they produce chicken, which are later raised at farms, the broiler farmers added.

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