Poultry and livestock feed prices have risen twice in less than a month as raw materials climb, from about Tk 68 a kilo at the start of August to as much as Tk 72.50. Industry figures show maize up about 24%, de-oiled rice bran (DORB) up 27% and soybean meal up 20% over the period, while exchange-rate swings have raised the cost of imported inputs, Agricare24 reports.
Mosharraf Hossain Chowdhury, president of the Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association, said soybean cost about $430 a tonne in August and $530 now. Feed went up Tk 2 a kilo at the end of August and another Tk 2.50 in mid-September, yet he says manufacturers are still losing more than Tk 3 a kilo.
A T M Habibur Rahman, chief business officer of Akij Feed Mills, said maize cost Tk 28-29 a kilo from March to May and Tk 38-40 from June to August; raw materials account for 80 to 85% of the cost of quality feed.
Small farmers are cutting back. Amir Hossain, a broiler farmer in Kutbari, Mawna (Gazipur), now buys 28 bags of feed a month instead of 30 and keeps fewer birds. A 50kg bag now costs up to Tk 3,675, he said, while chicken prices have not risen to match. The report puts farm eggs at about Tk 150 a dozen and broilers at Tk 190-200 a kilo in Dhaka.
The industry is calling for lower feed prices, cuts in taxes and duties on imported inputs, fair prices for eggs and chicken, a reliable supply of local raw materials and closer market monitoring. State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Sultan Salahuddin Tuku said the government is working to bring down the cost of feed and other inputs.
Photo: chicken feed with maize (file picture). Photo: Øyvind Holmstad / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Agricare24
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