Monira Islam came to a fresh market on Tuesday (7 April) for the first time since Eid. She had not known that the price of sonali chicken had soared in the meantime, and the figure left her shocked. "I have never bought chicken at such a price," she said.

Jagonews spoke to her while she was buying chicken at Segunbagicha market in Dhaka. "He [the seller] first told me sonali chicken was Tk 420 [a kg], but I thought I heard Tk 320. Then I heard it again: no, Tk 420! I am amazed. Even at the end of Ramadan this chicken was Tk 300," she said.

"I came back from the village two days ago after Eid. What a situation in the meantime! I have never bought chicken at such a price," Monira Islam said.

The shopkeeper, Zahurul Hossain, stepped in. "Madam, how would you know if you don't come to the market? Sonali chicken has been above Tk 400 since last Eid. We are not getting enough chickens either, and because of the price we are not selling as much as before," he told her.

A tour of Dhaka markets on Tuesday found that while broiler prices had not risen much, sonali and local (deshi) chicken had been selling at record prices since Eid. Broilers sold at Tk 190-200 a kg, sonali chicken at Tk 420-440 and local chicken at Tk 700-750.

Market data show that broiler prices are unchanged from normal times, but sonali chicken has risen by up to Tk 140 a kg from its earlier Tk 300-320. Local chicken, earlier Tk 600-650 a kg, is up by as much as Tk 100.

Enamul, a seller at Karwan Bazar, said sales had fallen by almost half because of the higher prices, yet supply was still short. The problem, he said, came mainly from various poultry diseases together with higher vehicle fares.

Another shopkeeper, Riyad, said not enough sonali chickens were reaching the market and fewer vehicles were coming than before, while broiler prices and supply remained normal.

Traders said sonali chicken had never before gone above Tk 400 a kg, so they see the current price as a record. In their view a sudden fall in supply from farms is the main cause.

Shah Fahad Habib, general secretary of the Bangladesh Breeders Association, told Jagonews: "Transport costs have risen because of the fuel crisis. More importantly, at the same time diseases such as bird flu have increased, so mortality is higher. In this situation supply to the market has fallen, creating an imbalance between demand and supply, and prices have gone up."

The Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association (BPIA) says attacks of bird flu and other diseases have increased in the poultry sector, and rapid swings in temperature have raised death rates on farms. The effect on broiler farms is still limited, but production of sonali, known as colour birds, has fallen sharply.

Farmers and these organisations say bird flu attacks have increased over the past month, and with the sudden onset of heat, various diseases are killing chickens in large numbers. They claim some farms are losing 30-40 per cent of their birds.

Broilers meet 70 per cent of the chicken market's demand; the remaining 30 per cent comes from colour birds, that is sonali and layer breeds.

BPIA president Md Mosharraf Hossain Chowdhury told Jagonews: "For the past month bird flu infection has suddenly increased on farms. Chickens are dying in large numbers from this infection. The situation is such that even with enough medicine and vaccine we cannot stop it."

He said broilers were not having much trouble, but on sonali farms 30-40 per cent of birds were dying in some places, and more in others, causing a severe supply shortage in the market.

Most sonali chicken is produced in Joypurhat district in the north. Fuad Hossain, a farmer in Jamalganj there, said the larger birds were getting bird flu and the smaller ones various infections, and they were dying before they were ready for sale. At 18-20 days old the birds become weak and show respiratory symptoms, and many do not recover even with treatment. Deaths of chickens and chicks on farms have multiplied several times.

"Chickens are dying like this even though farms are taking proper measures. The situation is slowly getting more complicated. We can't do anything," he said.

Abu Sufian, acting director general of the Department of Livestock Services, gave a different account: "Although we have seen outbreaks of various seasonal flus, Gumboro and some other diseases, we have not yet officially found bird flu infection. But a crisis has developed at farm level, with some chickens dying. A big reason is rapid temperature change, weather change. These sudden temperature changes are increasing infections of various diseases."

He said small farmers were hit hardest because their biosecurity was quite weak. Work to strengthen it has begun, and the department is now stressing vaccination.

Higher fuel prices caused by the ongoing war in the Middle East have made things worse. Transport fares have raised the cost of animal feed and of producing eggs and chicks, and extra fares must be paid to bring chickens to market. Altogether this has put extra pressure on farmers and suppliers.

By the sector's estimate, transport costs have risen by about 20 per cent in the past two weeks. Fewer vehicles are running as fuel supply has dropped, and with low farm output, collectors must travel further to gather fewer chickens, pushing up the cost per unit.

Farm egg prices have also risen by Tk 10-20 a dozen in the past three or four days. A dozen eggs now sells for Tk 120, and up to Tk 130 in neighbourhood shops, after staying at Tk 110 for several weeks.

Last Ramadan egg prices were the lowest in several years, at Tk 100-110 a dozen.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.