Chicken meat prices skyrocket as inflation bites poultry farms

Sources say 13 small farms shut down in Rawalpindi district

RAWALPINDI:

The price of broiler chicken meat in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad has started setting new records as 13 small poultry farms in the Rawalpindi district have been shut down due to an increase in prices of chicken feed, raw materials and medicines.

Sources said large poultry farms have also reduced the production of chicks due to the severe financial crisis hitting the industry.

People have become anxious about the continuous rise in the poultry price while the chicken meat boycott campaign on social media has also proved to be ineffective.

Despite the launch of the campaign on social media platforms, the price of live chicken in the open market of both cities is Rs420 per kg in inner city areas and Rs430 per kg in suburban areas, while the price of chicken meat is Rs630 per kg in the inner city and Rs635-640 per kg in the suburban areas.

In wholesale, the broiler chicken eggs are being sold at Rs285 a dozen, in retail Rs300 a dozen and the domestic eggs are being sold at Rs520 a dozen.

“Earlier, we would buy 120kg of chicken but now we are only getting 60kg of chicken supply against the same demand,” they said and added that several small poultry farms have been shut down due to severe financial crisis.

Meanwhile, Mujtaba Khan, leader of the Poultry Dealers Association, said that 1,600 containers of poultry feed, miscellaneous raw materials and medicines are stranded at the Karachi port for two and a half months.

The government is not giving dollars to open the letter of credit (LC) for their release.