Poultry farm owners in Gaibandha district are being hit by a double whammy of a falling market price for chickens and a rise in costs, making it harder for them to turn profits.
The price of broliers – both factory-farmed and domestic – has fallen almost 30% over the past three weeks, triggering an outcry from farms rearing and selling chickens commercially.
The price drop has been attributed partly to an increase in supply as more people, mostly peasant farmers, turned to selling their domestic chickens as an alternative means of livelihood following the end of regular cultivation season.
“The incubation cost of a 1.5kg broiler is around Tk180 but its running market price is Tk140,” said Mani Miah, a farmer from the Chand Karim village of Sadullapur upazila.
“Counting a loss such as this, or similar amounts in case of chickens weighing more or less, is too much for me to bear on a regular basis,” he added.
Poultry farmers say the market has become more competitive, and their problems are being exacerbated by a parallel rise in the prices of chicken feed and other essentials.
Zillur Rahman, another farmer residing in Nayanpur village of Sadullapur, said many farmers purchased chicks and chicken feed on credit but, with poultry prices going down, they could not manage enough cash to repay their loans.
According to sources, about 3,500 poultry farms – including 1,333 registered – have been set up in recent years in all seven upazilas of the district by mostly young entrepreneurs.
Many of them took need-based training from the department of youth development prior to opening their ventures, and received loans from organisations including commercial banks. Now a repeated failure to repay loans could force many to close their farms.
Zillur Rahman believes the government should move to ensure “fair prices” for chickens so that small-scale entrepreneurs can make enough profits to stay afloat.