The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

& Shamim Jahangir

The price of fowl meat has increased between Tk 50 and Tk 100 per kilogram in the kitchen markets within a month as production of the local and farm chicken declined following the bird flu scare in March.

The local chicken was sold at Tk 150 per kilogram a month back, which is now selling at Tk 250 per kilogram. The farm chicken was sold at Tk 65 to Tk 70, is now selling at Tk 120 per kilogram.

"We had produced 2.50 lakh metric tons of chicken meat yearly which now stands at 1.50 lakh metric tons," said Moshiur Rahman, General Secretary of the Poultry Breeders and Hatchery Association of Bangladesh.

"We have failed to supply meat as per the demand because around 75,000 poultry farmers out of 1.5 lakh have wrapped up their business following massive loss in the wake of bird flu," he said.

Over 60 poultry breeders and hatchery industries have stopped their business after sustaining heavy loss, he added.

He urged the Government to take steps for reducing the rate of interest on bank loan for sustaining the poultry industry.

"If the government reduces bank interest rate from 12 to 6 per cent, the industry will be back on track," Moshiur hoped.

He further said that the Association would meet the Chief Adviser's Special Assistant Manik Lal Samaddar to place its demands.

Abdul Kadir, a poultry bird businessman at Karwan Bazar, told the New Nation that the supply of fowls - local and farm - were insufficient against the demand in the markets.

Some 16,11,276 chickens, ducks and pigeons were culled since the epidemic broke out in March 22 last year, according to the Livestock Research Institute. As many as 21,62,971 eggs were destroyed so far following the outbreak of bird flu at the same time.

The disease affected 494 commercial and private farms of 138 upazilas in 47 out of 64 districts in the country.

Bird flu had caused losses of about Tk 4,164 crore to the poultry sector, according to the Bangladesh Poultry Association.

Around five million of the country's more than 14 core people are directly or indirectly involved in poultry farming, of whom officials estimate more than 15 lakh have now become jobless.

No human bird flu cases have been reported in the country, a densely populated nation, where poultry birds are commonly kept by households.