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Chicken prices shoot up in Telangana after lockdown lull

Divit

HYDERABAD: After plummeting to a record low of Rs 40 per kg in March, chicken prices in the State have increased by up to 400-500 per cent.

In the wake of the alleged fake news linking chicken consumption to Covid-19 infection in March, several retail chicken shop owners announced ‘double dhamaka sales’ when chicken was sold at as low as Rs 40 per kg and live bird at Rs 15- Rs 18. But since the beginning of May, chicken prices have skyrocketed. 

As of now, the farm price of live birds is hovering at Rs 125- Rs 130 and boneless chicken at Rs 270- Rs 300 per kg. 

The city traders attribute the surge to the disruption in the chicken supply chain in the State. Speaking to Express, an owner of a chicken shop near Yashodha Hospital said, “There is no availability of chicken in the market as there is a reduced arrival of birds from the neighbouring districts and States.”  Another owner said, “Chicken is arriving in the market once in a few days while the demand is increasing owing to the festival season.” 

The State consumes around three crore chickens and one crore eggs every day, of which around 60 per cent is met from within the State and the remaining from the neighbouring States, including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. KG Anand, general manager of Venkateshwara Hatcheries, said, “Since February, there was a dip in the chicken sale, following which the poultry farmers could not feed their chicken, resulting in large-scale bird deaths.

And soon after the lockdown was imposed, the transport movement got disrupted.” He added that the current increase in the price is temporary. Anand opined that soon after the relaxation in the lockdown restrictions, prices of chicken would come down.  He said even when the price was up, the farmers were unable to make profits. “The farmers are still selling the chickens and eggs at a very low price despite the increased feed prices,” he added

Source: THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

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