February 10, 2010

 

CP Cambodia to boost chick sales

 

 

Chicks worth US$2.73 million will be sold to farmers by animal feed producer CP Cambodia Co Ltd this year.

 

Company vice president Wittaya Kreangkriwit said CP plans to sell 3.9 million chicks to 300 farming families in Kandal and Kampong Speu provinces at about US$0.70 each.

 

The farmers are then obliged, as part of an agreement, to buy animal feed from CP to nourish the chickens to maturity.

 

In 2009, the company sold three million 21-day-old chicks at US$0.50 each, making US$1.5 million in revenues.

 

Wittaya said they hope the sales strategy will be successful because they believe the number of people raising chickens in Cambodia is increasing.

 

Chhay Sok Huon, president of Chicken Farming Association, which represents 50 chicken farmhouses in Kandal and Kampong Speu provinces, agreed that demand for eggs and chicken meat has increased this year. It intends to buy more chicks from CP.

 

However, Chhay wants CP to sell chicks at a lower price to allow farmers to benefit more and expand, which will ensure a sufficient supply of eggs and chicken meat to markets and reduce the need for imports.

 

Cambodia currently imports about 700,000 eggs and hundreds of kgs of chicken from Vietnam and Thailand. Such imports have caused competition problems for local farmers, said Kao Phal, director of the Department of Animal Health and Production.

 

He said they are trying to reduce the quota of egg and meat imports gradually to encourage domestic livestock raising.

 

A report from the department showed that in 2009 Cambodia raised about 20 million chickens and ducks, compared to 16 million in 2008.