Broiler chicken is selling for Tk 190 a kilogram in Dhaka markets, while small farmers are selling the same birds for Tk 134 a kilogram, a gap of Tk 56. Eggs tell the same story: on Wednesday (21 October) a dozen brown eggs sold for Tk 155 in Dhaka, while at the farm a dozen fetched Tk 102, a gap of Tk 53.
Farmers complain that feed and medicine prices have risen but what they get for their birds and eggs has not kept pace. Small farmer Shafiur Rahman told Dhaka Post that broiler feed has gone up by Tk 225 in two months, with a 50 kg sack now costing Tk 3,785, and medicines cost more too.
Shafiur Rahman said he raised 1,200 birds and has sold about 1,000. He lost about Tk 50,000 on this one batch; some birds died and about 70 kg of chicken is still on the farm. Repeated losses like this eat into farmers' working capital, making it hard to buy new chicks and feed.
Layer farmer Ariful Islam said he sold eggs at Tk 8.50 each. His feed has risen by Tk 325 a sack and now costs more than Tk 2,900. Eggs bring little profit, he said; they barely cover the cost of the flock.
Afzal, a chicken trader in Dhaka, told Dhaka Post that prices rise and fall with supply at Kaptan Bazar: plentiful supply brings prices down, short supply pushes them up, and birds can sell at one price at night and another in the morning.
Dhaka Post's report asks whether rising feed ingredient costs are the main cause, or whether middlemen in the supply chain are also widening the gap. Either way, the difference between farm-gate and consumer prices is weighing most heavily on small farmers.
The report is by a Dhaka Post staff correspondent.
Photo: Animals Uncovered / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0); broiler chickens in a shed.
Source: Dhaka Post
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