Ensure transparency to control chicken, egg price instability, say stakeholders

Poultry farmers and stakeholders have called for ensuring transparency at all stages – from production to consumer level - for the sake of the poultry sector's development, and also to control instability in the prices of chicken and eggs.

"The management should be made such that the poultry farmers do not incur losses for a long time, preventing the volatility in the market that starts all of sudden. The Department of Livestock Services has started working on it," said Shamsul Arefin Khaled, the president of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council (BPICC) on Thursday.

He was addressing a seminar, titled "Crisis in Poultry Industry: Protection of Marginal Farmers and Initiatives for Reduction of Poultry Production Costs".

The seminar was moderated by Abul Kashem, the general secretary of Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF), at the organisation's auditorium in the capital.

Khaled further said that poultry farmers were compelled to sell produce at prices below production costs for much of 2022 and 2023, and made losses accordingly. The middlemen have made unfair profits, while the producers have suffered.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock stated that the production cost of an egg should not exceed Tk10.50 and the maximum retail price should not cross Tk12.

Stressing the need for duty-free import of poultry feed ingredients, Khaled said, "Earlier, the price of feed was reduced by Tk3-3.5. If the alternative ingredients are allowed to be imported duty-free under SRO, the feed price could further come down by Tk3, which will reduce the cost of each egg by Tk1-1.5. We have reported the matter to the NBR; the Department of Livestock Services is also working on it."

In his speech, Kazi Zahin Hasan, the president of Breeders Association of Bangladesh (BAB), underscored the need for increasing investment in the poultry sector annually to meet the growing demand for chicken and eggs.

"If eggs and chickens are imported, it will harm the country. The weekly demand for day-old chicks fell from 1.70 crores to 1.30 crores, and the demand for layer chickens dropped from 11 lakhs to 9.5 lakhs," he said.

However, producers said that 85% of production [chicken, eggs] comes from marginal farmers and the rest from corporate entities.

Addressing the seminar, Md Nazrul Islam, the general secretary of Feed Industries Association of Bangladesh, said, "The price of maize, soybean meal and other feed materials and medicines have increased uncontrollably due to the impact of the Ukraine-Russia war.

"It has become difficult to open an LC due to the dollar crisis. High tariffs at the Chattogram Customs and the complications of clearing goods have increased the cost. To make a feed, 60-70 ingredients are used, 70% of which are imported."

Nazrul added that there are over 200 registered feed mills in the country, of which only 65-70 are in operation now, and the rest were shut due to losses.

Md Mahbubur Rahman, the general secretary of BRB, also spoke at the seminar.

Meanwhile, the price of eggs has started dropping slightly. Eggs sold by corporate producers at Tk11.40 a few days ago have come down to Tk10.90.

Wholesale egg sellers in the capital's Segunbagicha said they were now selling each egg at Tk12.30, which they used to sell at Tk14.20 two to three days ago. At retail, the price has dropped to Tk160-165 from Tk170-180 for a dozen.

However, eggs were still selling at high prices at super shops in the capital, with Shwapno charging Tk12.92 for one piece, while Agora selling it for Tk14 and Meena Bazar Tk12.