Until recently each egg from the farms sold for Tk 8. That has halved to Tk 4 to 5 an egg. The broiler business has also crashed, with birds now going for next to nothing at Tk 44 to 55 a kg. Farmers say the egg and chicken business has slumped like this because buyers have dwindled under the impact of the coronavirus.

Khandaker Md Mohsin, a farmer in Sreepur, Gazipur, said eggs from his farm are selling at Tk 4.25 to Tk 5.25 each.

Saiful Islam, a young farmer from Kalidas village in Sakhipur, Tangail, has been selling broilers at Tk 44 to 55 a kg for a week. "No one wants to take the chickens. I sell at whatever price anyone offers," he said.

Poultry farmers are among the domestic-market sectors hit hardest since the general holiday began to contain the coronavirus. Hens on the farms are laying but the eggs are not selling, and broilers set aside are gaining weight but there are few buyers.

Farm owners, especially small and medium farmers, are in deep crisis. Saiful Islam said he had lost Tk 6 lakh to 7 lakh in a week.

Farm owners say it costs about Tk 6 to produce an egg, and the cost of producing a kilogram of broiler is now a little over Tk 90. When prices rise, they say, they cannot simply increase production to earn more; and when prices fall they cannot cut production immediately either. So losses are inevitable.

Are people in Dhaka able to buy eggs and chicken very cheaply? Visits to several markets on Monday and Tuesday found brown farm eggs selling at Tk 85 to 90 a dozen, though some neighbourhood shops charged Tk 100 to 105 a dozen. Broilers were selling at Tk 120 to 125 a kg.

Broiler prices have been low for several months. Before the holiday began, when people were panic buying, eggs rose to Tk 115 to 120 a dozen.

The Bangladesh Poultry Khamar Jatiya Parishad collects chicken and egg prices from various districts every day and prepares a report. Monday's report showed farmers got Tk 4.20 to Tk 5.60 for each white egg at farm level, and Tk 5.20 to Tk 5.80 for brown eggs. Broilers sold at Tk 60, Tk 80 and Tk 90 a kg in different districts.

Khandaker Md Mohsin is general secretary of the Poultry Khamar Rokkha Jatiya Parishad. He told Prothom Alo that the supply system is not working, there is no demand in the market, and drivers are not taking their vehicles onto the roads. As a result prices vary from place to place. Farmers are not getting good prices, but buyers in the market are not getting much of the benefit either.

Source: Prothom Alo. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.