Sharp increase in prices of maize and soya has led to higher production cost for the poultry sector this year, said Vignesh Soundararajan, MD, Suguna Foods.
Maize prices had gone up by more than 50% in the last six months, while the price of soya had increased from ₹35-40 a kg to ₹65-₹70 in the past one year. Maize and soya are the two main ingredients of poultry feed, which constitutes almost 80% of the cost of broiler chicken production.
“The poultry sector [broiler birds] sees almost 8% growth year-on-year. However, this year, with a sharp rise in the feed cost, broiler producers are unable to pass on the entire cost to the consumers,” he said.
Prices of maize and soya may come down when supply increases, which is usually in October-November, he added.
The broiler sector requires nearly 120 lakh tonnes of maize and 60 lakh tonnes of soya annually, said R. Lakshmanan, chairman, Broiler Coordination Committee, Tamil Nadu.
During the current financial year, the production cost ranged from ₹75-95 a kg, while the average farmgate price was ₹90 a kg. The wholesale selling price had risen only in the last one month, he said.
