April 5, 2022

Chicken prices in Pune, India, spike as feed and transport costs rise

An increase in the cost of chicken feed, alongside rising costs of transportation, have led to a spike in the cost of chicken in Pune, India, to ₹230-250/kg (US$3.05-3.31) from the ₹160-180/kg (US$2.12-2.39) pricing last month.

Retailers from the Poultry Breeders Welfare Association in Maharashtra pointed out that the price of soybean has gone up to ₹70/kg (US$0.93) from ₹38/kg (US$0.50).

The hike in fuel prices has only made things worse at the same time, they said. All these impacted the production cost of poultry units.

Vasant Kumar, president of the association, told the Times of India: "Consumption of chicken in summer is relatively lower than in winter. But many farmers have closed their poultry units due to the rising cost of inputs. This has reduced the supply of chicken in the retail market."

"Since the cost of (chicken) has gone up, we do not see an immediate fall in chicken prices at least for the next few weeks," said Vijay More, owner of Aamir Chicken, one of the largest retailers in the city.

"Secondly, poultry farmers will not be able to run their units unless they get good returns. So, for them, it would be tough to restart their units in the current situation. Because of this, we would not get supply in excess immediately. They are just waiting for a fall in feed prices."

Kumar also feared that the high prices of chicken may go against the retailers as customers will either buy it in limited quantities or restrict consumption.

Additionally, some poultry farmers pointed out that in summer, the mortality of chicks is higher and production tends to be lower.

"Overall, productivity goes down in the range of 5-15%. It is a big loss for any farmer. As a result, a farmer who has a unit of 3,000 chickens will suffer a big loss in the business as he would be able to sell limited birds," explained Vasant Hinge, a poultry trader from Ambegaon tehsil.

- The Times of India