Visakhapatnam: Price of broiler chicken which was sold at a record price of 320 per kg in the summer has dropped to 150 to 160 per kg in parts of state. The prices of broiler chicken witnessed a sharp fall due to various reasons such as reduction in broiler consumption and decrease in export to other states.
On Sunday, dressed broiler chicken was sold at 150 to 170 per kg while the live broiler bird was sold at 95 per kg. A few weeks ago, the price of the broiler chicken was 240 to 260 per kg.
Andhra Pradesh produces around five crore broiler birds per month and the average demand for the broiler chicken meat is around 8 to 10 lakh kg per day. However, the demand has drastically declined due to the spread of seasonal diseases and absence of major events in the villages as well as in urban pockets, said P Ravi Kumar, a poultry businessman in north coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Ironically, the export of broiler chicken to neighbouring Odisha from parts of the state has also declined as the broiler consumption in that state too decreased due to various religious festivals. The broiler poultry businessmen in the region are incurring losses due to fall in prices, said T Appala Raju who runs broiler poultry business.
The input cost in the broiler poultry sector has been increasing due to a sharp increase in the price of bird poultry feed, especially soya and maize. The broiler feed cost has increased to more than 2,000 per packet from 1,400. The trade has been fluctuating and most of the times, the broiler poultry farmers are struggling to get profit.
Meanwhile, egg price has soared to 6 in many parts of the state and the price may touch 6.5 in the coming days. “We are expecting the price of broiler chicken to stabilise in the coming weeks,” traders added.
Source – timesofindia
