May 30, 2011
Nepalese chicken price decreases again
The price of broiler chicken has declined further due to decrease in consumption.
The price of chicken has gone down by NPR15/kg (US$0.21). The price of the chicken had dropped by NPR15/kg (US$0.21) only 10 days ago.
"We have decided to lower the price as the demand has significantly dropped due to increase in temperature," said Junga Bahadur BC, president of National Chicken Sellers Association. With the decline in price, chicken is now available in the market at NPR195/kg (US$2.69).
Chicken production had gone down last year as chicks were not available as per demand. The price of chicks which was NPR70 (US$0.97) per head last year has gone down to as low as NPR30 (US$0.41) per head this year. This has increased the production this year and the poultry farmers are bound to reduce the price due to falling demand.
Major poultry farms in the valley, including Ashapuri Hatchery, Valley poultry, Lalitpur Hatchery, Daunne G J, Kwality Hatchery, Champapur Hatchery and Prabhat Hatchery, have brought down the price of chicks.
Narayan Hari Khatri, a leading poultry producer and the president of Nepal Feed Industries Association said hatcheries have been forced to lower the price of chicks due to increase in production. Hatcheries have been producing 1.9 million chicks per week, while the weekly demand for chicks hovers at 1.7 million.
With the reduction in price, customers can get the live chicken at NPR150/kg (US$2.07) while the poultry farmers only get NPR140/kg (US$1.93).
Demand for chicken generally drops by 10-15% during summer season. Daily consumption of broiler chicken currently stands at around 400,000 kg which is down by 10-15% compared to previous months.
