With the fresh adjustment, the price of chicken in the capital has reached Rs 265 per kg. Similarly, price of live chicken has increased by Rs 10 per kg, making it Rs 195 per kg. The entrepreneurs had raised price of eggs by one rupee per unit on Friday.[break]
Janga Bahadur BC, president of National Chicken Sellers´ Association (NCSA), said a joint meeting of poultry farmers, entrepreneurs and wholesalers in the capital decided to increase the price mainly because of continuous rise in feed prices and low supplies from farms.
“We have been compelled to increase the price of chicken and eggs yet again even though demand normally goes down from mid-July to mid-August as many people do not consume meat during the holy month of Shrawan,” said BC.
Narayan Hari Khatri, president of Nepal Feed Industries´ Association, said they were left with no option but to raise the price of feeds almost every month because of heavy rise in prices of raw materials.
The association had raised the price of feed for broiler and layers chicken by Rs 4 and Rs 3 per kg respectively on Sunday. It has increased feed prices four times since mid-May.
“As we are totally dependent on India for raw materials, any change in prices there directly affects our production cost,” said Khatri.
According to poultry entrepreneurs, supply of chicken has dropped because of low supplies from local farms. Local farmers have reduced number of chicks in their farms following outbreak of bird flu in the capital earlier this year.
BC expected chicken price to rise further given the insufficient supply and rise in production costs. “We have been failing to meet the demand in market even though demand generally falls during summer,” he added.
Daily consumption of chicken in the capital hovers around 200,000 kg to 250,000 kg.
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