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Sector insiders say many farmers could not take the losses as the steep drop in demand forced them to sell chicken below cost. Get more news about Poultry Farms,you can vist our website!

The demand for broiler chickens fell due to lockdowns and restrictions on social events and eateries, they add.Industry sources say 50% of broiler chickens produced are consumed at home. The other half is consumed at various social events such as wedding receptions and in schools, colleges, universities, offices, restaurants and travel spots.

Poultry meat production has declined by 40%-45% over the last one and half years from around 90,000 tonnes per month in pre-pandemic times, according to the Bangladesh Poultry Industry Central Council (BPICC). More than 40% of farms have stopped production as they could not absorb pandemic-induced losses, the BPICC said.

At present, farmers are selling broiler chicken at Tk90-95 per kg, while their production cost is Tk105 per kg. There are around 90,000 registered poultry farms in the country. The actual number is more than one lakh, including the unregistered, according to the Department of Livestock Services.

Moshiur Rahman, president of the BPICC, told The Business Standard, "Thousands of farmers have lost their capital. If they cannot resume production, the sector will not be able to turn around."Over the last four decades, the industry has developed into a Tk35,000 crore sector, which was meeting more than 40% of the demand. Before the Covid-19 hit, the growth of this sector was 12%-15% annually but it turned into a negative growth in the last one and a half years owing to the pandemic, industry people said.

Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, a poultry farmer from Satkania upazila of Chattogram and also the president of the Greater Chattogram Poultry Association, has been in this business for 23 years. He had 20,000 broilers and 6,000 golden breed chickens at his farm. But his poultry farm shut down four months ago with a loss of around Tk1.5 crore.

During the pandemic, at least 2,000 small and large poultry farmers have lost their capital and closed down their businesses like Sirajul. If the situation does not improve, a few thousand more poultry farms will be closed, said business insiders.

Rakibur Rahman Tutul, president of the Bangladesh Breeders Association and director of the Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said there are 7,000 small and large poultry farms in the district. Of them, 2,000 farms have been closed. They now have no income.

According to the Greater Chattogram Poultry Association, around two million chickens were produced monthly in Chattogram, Chattogram Hill Tracts and Cox's Bazar. This number has now come down to only eight lakh as the demand for poultry chicken has dropped by 60%.

Riton Prasad Chowdhury, secretary general of the Greater Chattogram Poultry Association, said, "The current production cost for per kg poultry chicken is around Tk110. But farmers are being forced to sell at Tk88-99 per kg wholesale. The wholesale price of golden chicken is Tk155 per kg. But the production cost is more than that.