Meat lovers are now shelling out huge amount of money to relish on chicken, as the price of broiler chicken has drastically increased in the last three weeks in Visakhapatnam city.
One kg of broiler chicken, which was about ₹220 during the end of April, has now increased to ₹312, almost a hike of around ₹100. This is said to be a record high in the recent times. Members of the poultry association from the district attribute the price hike to the low production of the chicken due to the hot weather conditions.
Visakhapatnam Poultry Association president T. Apparao said that due to the summer it becomes difficult for the farmers to get required weight of chicken, which is around 2.1 kg, as the chicken food intake drops due to high temperatures. It takes about 45 days in general to get the desired weight of the chicken. But now, even after 55 days, the farmers are failing to get the required weight of chicken. This is the reason for the low production, he said.
He also added that due to increase in the feed cost, a number of poultry owners have stopped the business for a while in various parts, which is also another reason for the low production.
‘Slight relief’
Mr Apparao said that the recent change in the climatic conditions following decline in temperatures due to the Asani cyclone have given a slight relief to the poultry owners. “The production has increased in some parts of the district and we may see decline in the rates again in the coming one to two week,” he added.
According to some poultry farmers, there would be a need of around 2.30 lakh birds for three districts – Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharamaraju. Some say that during summer, some people, even meat lovers, reduce consumption of chicken and prefer sea food.
