December 14, 2007

Indian poultry shaken with high feed costs

The poultry industry of Tamil Nadu in southeastern India is worried over the rising feed costs apparent for the last months.

The surge in soy prices triggered high production cost of broiler birds. According to R. Lakshmanan, chairman of the Palladam-based Broiler Coordination Committee (BCC), the price of soy has touched an all-time high of INR16,000 (US$406) a tonne against INR10,000 (US$254) a tonne previously.

Meanwhile, there was no significant change in the price of corn in India, which remains at INR750 (US$19) / 100kg.

K. Kannan of Swati Hosieries of Palladam said production cost of broiler has increased by INR4 (US$0.10) per kg. The farm gate price of birds stood at INR33 (US$0.83) a kg while the production cost crossed INR35 (US$0.88) a kg.

Lakshmanan opined that the industry is not doing well at the moment, and will only survive when the farm gate price is increased.