Bangladesh farmers need feed subsidy
Participants within the Bangladesh poultry industry are seeking help from the government to subsidise imported feed ingredients in the face of soaring poultry feed prices.
Poultry Industries Co-Ordination Committee, “A majority of entrepreneurs will be
forced to shut down their businesses unless the government provides subsidy for
poultry feed ingredients.”
The increased use of biofuel in the place of
fossil fuels has led to a surge in the price of poultry feed ingredients,
particularly maize and soybean. Moshiur says that almost 50% of oultry farms
faced closure in the past six months due to increasing cost of production,
resulting from steady rise in feed ingredients and poor demand for poultry meat.
An outbreak of bird flu early 2007 has also added to the pressure that farmers
are facing.
The country is now producing 4 mln day-old chicks a week
instead of 6.5 mln a year ago, says Moshiur, who is also the President of
World’s Poultry Science Association in Bangladesh. He also blames less
purchasing capacity of the people for the fall in demand for
poultry.
Ideally demand for poultry should have been increased due to the
closure of such a large number of farms, he said, “But it didn’t because
people’s purchasing capacity has eroded faster than that of the extent of the
closure,” adding that people are now refraining from purchasing poultry
meat.
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