THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the dwindling fish supply in the wake of trawling ban and heavy rain, the price of chicken has gone up in the state. The price of a live chicken went up to a hefty Rs 140 when the market price was only Rs 129 in the district on Wednesday. Since people depend more on meat products, many shops have been charging more than the permissible rate.
On Wednesday, the farm price was Rs 102 where the dealer usually gets Rs 7 as commission. Some charge only Rs 5 for the same. Usually, the margin a shop owner can take is only Rs 20. However, even the maximum retail price has not gone down much post-Ramzan. On Tuesday, the retail price was Rs 123 and it went up to Rs 127 on Wednesday. It was varying between Rs 133 to Rs 138 on the run up to Ramzan. Before Ramzan, the prices were ranging between Rs 90-Rs 100. The prices vary slightly in different districts.
“The supply is usually affected during the trawling ban period. The price is going to be in the same range in the coming days as well. However, anyone selling chicken above the prescribed rate should be stopped from doing so. A few shops might have started exploiting the situation as the demand has gone up in the past couple of days,” said Syed Meera, joint secretary, Poultry Farmers and Traders Association of Kerala.
However, many in the poultry sector agree with the price hike as they believe only it will help sustain the industry.
S K Nazeer, All Kerala Poultry Federation general secretary, said, “Each day, unmanageable amount of poultry waste is being generated in the state. Most of the shop keepers have to resort to dispose of it in open space. Now, we are devising a plan for waste management to avoid environmental hazards. We need to pay Rs 5 per kg for waste disposal. The margin shop keepers gets has to be raised to sustain the business.”
The MRP is fixed by various bodies in the sector itself including Kerala Poultry Farmers and Traders Association (FAT), having reached consensus on the need for a unified price.