Chicken price touches record high

Chicken price touches record high
eKantipur.com, 29-Sep-2007

Propelled by dwindling supply after a major decline in production volume, the price of chicken touched Rs 165 per kilogram here.

As the Nepali government has imposed a ban on imports of parent chicks from source countries rumored to have been infected with cases of the bird-flu disease for the last one year, production of chicken has nose dived significantly for over six months prompting prices to skyrocket.

Entrepreneurs also attributed the price hike to frequent highway bandas and strikes which have been disrupting smooth delivery of poultry products. According to them, the price of chicken meat has shot up to Rs 165 per kg, up from the Rs 150 of a couple of months ago. "The price of chicken has culminated to a record high now," said Kapil Babu Khanal, the immediate past president of Nepal Hatchery Association.

"We have adjusted the price in line with the soaring price of feeds and short production along with shrinking level of supply." A short supply of goats has also contributed to the customers opting for chicken. This and an increase in the number of tourists arriving in the country have pushed the demand of chicken upward, Khanal added.

Traders said the recent improvement in the tourism sector along with an increase in economic activities in the country had caused a gradual rise in demand of meat. Poultry entrepreneurs said the prices would go up further.