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Source: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/015200804271121.htm
Chicken price soars to record high in Nepal
KATHMANDU (Xinhua): The price of chicken has soared 20 percent to a record 190 Nepali rupees (3 U.S. dollars) per kg in Nepal within a week in the face of shrinking supplies and rising demand, reported Sunday's The Kathmandu Post.
Poultry entrepreneurs said production of broiler chicken has gone down sharply due to a government ban on import of parent chicks from major source countries like India where bird-flu was traced a few months back. Production of broilers and layers across the country has nosedived at least 30 percent, as the shortage of parent chicks in the market deepens, Til Chandra Bhattarai, a poultry expert was quoted by the daily as saying.
Hatcheries breed new chicks from parent chicks to sell to poultry farms, where they are raised for nearly eight weeks before being put on the market. "Shrinking imports of parent chicks, for which Nepal is completely dependent on third countries, has caused an alarming depletion in the stock of chickens at poultry farms," said Bhattarai who is also managing director of the southern Nepal's Chitwan-based Pancharatna Poultry Group.
As a result of a ban on imports of parent chicks from India, hatchers have been compelled to import parent chicks from other countries, pushing up costs by at least 20 percent, said Tikaram Pokhrel of Nepal Poultry Entrepreneurs Forum.
According to the report, Nepal imports around 350,000 broiler parent chicks annually for over four dozen hatcheries across the country. Nepali hatcheries are currently importing the parent chicks from Belgium, the Netherlands, Britain and Australia.
Chicken price soars to record high in Nepal
KATHMANDU (Xinhua): The price of chicken has soared 20 percent to a record 190 Nepali rupees (3 U.S. dollars) per kg in Nepal within a week in the face of shrinking supplies and rising demand, reported Sunday's The Kathmandu Post.
Poultry entrepreneurs said production of broiler chicken has gone down sharply due to a government ban on import of parent chicks from major source countries like India where bird-flu was traced a few months back. Production of broilers and layers across the country has nosedived at least 30 percent, as the shortage of parent chicks in the market deepens, Til Chandra Bhattarai, a poultry expert was quoted by the daily as saying.
Hatcheries breed new chicks from parent chicks to sell to poultry farms, where they are raised for nearly eight weeks before being put on the market. "Shrinking imports of parent chicks, for which Nepal is completely dependent on third countries, has caused an alarming depletion in the stock of chickens at poultry farms," said Bhattarai who is also managing director of the southern Nepal's Chitwan-based Pancharatna Poultry Group.
As a result of a ban on imports of parent chicks from India, hatchers have been compelled to import parent chicks from other countries, pushing up costs by at least 20 percent, said Tikaram Pokhrel of Nepal Poultry Entrepreneurs Forum.
According to the report, Nepal imports around 350,000 broiler parent chicks annually for over four dozen hatcheries across the country. Nepali hatcheries are currently importing the parent chicks from Belgium, the Netherlands, Britain and Australia.