September 21, 2010

 

Nepal's poultry industry booms amid strong demand

Encouraged by robust market and high returns, investment in Nepalese poultry sector has shot up by over 30%, said poultry experts.

 

The poultry sector - which contributes around 3% in GDP - has seen an encouraging growth with total investment amounting to NPR24 billion (US$327 million) over the period. Five years ago, total investment was estimated at NPR18 billion (US$246 million).

 

The surge in the scope and size of the business is due mainly to opening of big poultry farms, hatcheries and feed industries in poultry hub of Chitwan and other emerging new markets.

 

Dr Tilchandra Bhattarai, a poultry researcher, said: "Lower cost coupled with nutritional value of poultry products and their growing popularity among consumers has unleashed a huge potential for business expansion across the country. This is why there is an upward trend in opening new farms and expanding existing ones."

 

He said that the surge is particularly marked in hatcheries, commercial farms and feed production.

 

The new investors - Numbus, Rungta, Well-up and Pancharatna Groups - have been focusing on the production of pelleted feed with the use of latest production technology. Small feeds are also on the rise among moderate investment.

 

Meantime, Tribeni Group, Valley Feed Industries and Sagar Feeds are opening new feed industries in Birgunj, Hetauda and Itahari, respectively.

 

The cost of constructing a feed mill with high-technology plants and silo (storage tower) facility is estimated to be NPR150-250 million (US$2-$3.4 million).

 

Bhattarai, managing director of Pancharatna Group - one of the largest poultry entrepreneurs in the country - said he is all set to opening Ruchi Poultry in Shukranagar of Chitwan and Pancharatna Hatchery in Pokhara with the combined production capacity of 100,000 chicks per week.

 

Pancharatna also owns poultry farms in Kohalpur and Itahari, which have the capacity of 80,000 and 100,000 chickens, respectively. It is planning to expand capacity to 200,000 chickens in each of them.

 

Abhinash Group, which operates country´s largest hatchery, Abhinash Hatchery, also plans to build a state-of-the-art hatchery in Beldia of Nawalparasi with a target of production of 350,000 chicks per week.

 

Gundchandra Bista, managing director of Abhinash Group, who is also the president of Nepal Hatcheries Association, said over 15 big hatcheries and half-a-dozen high-tech feed millers have opened in the past five years with massive investment.

 

However, poultry entrepreneurs bemoan over a lack of export prospects for poultry products due to higher cost of domestic production.

 

"We can't compete with our Indian counterparts as production cost in Nepal is at least 15% higher than in the southern neighbor," explained Bhattarai.

 

He added that the populations of commercial broilers and layers grew by 18% and 17% to touch 46.76 million and 6.4 million, respectively, in 2009/10 compared to a year earlier.

 

Production of chicken shot up by 12% to 1.26 billion head over the same period. Total feed production has gone up by 16% to 581,132 tonnes during the review year.

 

To date, there are a total of 76 big hatcheries, 115 feed mills, 500 layers and 1,000 broiler farms in Nepal.