Around four lakh people who rely on Khulna’s poultry industry for a living – are passing through dire times as the ongoing political unrest continues to disrupt the distribution chain of the poultry farms in the region.
Industry insiders said violence on the roads was hampering the process of supplying and distributing poultry feed, eggs, poultry medications, freshly hatched chicks and chicken meat.
Sources said 4,952 poultry farms are currently operational in Khulna; the eggs and chickens from these farms usually meet the regional demand while the surplus products are supplied to different areas. However, since the blockade began, the owners have been facing massive losses as they are unable to transport their products.
Exploiting the crisis, unscrupulous traders have allegedly hiked up prices of poultry feed and poultry medication, as fresh supply of these items have been scarce since the start of the political turmoil.
SM Sohrab Hossain, secretary general of Khulna Poultry Fish Feed Industries Owners Association, told the Dhaka Tribune around four lakh workers involved with the industry are facing a severe crisis. If such turbulent political times continued, these poultry workers would have to give up all hopes of staying alive, Sohrab claimed.
Local traders said the poultry farms in Khulna supplied around 40 tonnes of chicken meat every day during regular times. Since the blockade cut access to the regular chicken meat distribution system, the local poultry farm owners have been counting total daily losses worth around Tk60 lakh, with around Tk9.25 crore in cumulated losses so far.
Meanwhile, the five lakh eggs that were usually sold every day from the local poultry farms are also remaining unsold, causing Tk5.25 crore worth of losses so far. Around eight hatcheries in Khulna – which produce around one lakh chicks every week – have also suffered from over Tk25 lakh worth of losses since the blockade began.
At least five farms also produce poultry feed in Khulna, supplying 80 tonnes of feed every day during regular times. But the political unrest has so far caused Tk5 crore in losses to these farms. The poultry medication sector has also suffered a total of around Tk1 crore worth of losses because of the turmoil, sources said.
