December 26, 2008

Poultry prices up 10 percent in India's New Delhi

Chicken prices in New Delhi have increased over 10 percent to Rs42 per kg in the city's largest wholesale market, due to bird flu in the eastern part of the country.

In Delhi's Ghazipur wholesale market, chicken was on Thursday (Dec 25) sold at Rs42 per kilogramme, compared with Rs38 on December 18.

Poultry Federation India Treasurer Rickey Thaper said poultry prices have rebounded since December 20 and will be equal to production cost soon. It will just take another seven to 10 days for farmers to make profit, he said.

He said that chicken prices were Rs 55-58 a kilogramme in the wholesale market on November 27, spurring farmers to stock birds in expectation of good business during Christmas and the New Year.

However, farmers took to panic selling to clear stocks because of the bird flu, he added.

Bird flu was first reported in Assam's  Kamrup district and it later spread to bordering areas of Meghalaya and the Malda district in West Bengal.

This resulted in neighbouring states taking preventive measures including killing thousands of birds and banning the import of poultry products from West Bengal and Assam.

US$1=Rs47.483 (Dec 26)