TIRUPPUR: Falling demand and incessant rains which affected transportation has brought down the wholesale broiler chicken price to Rs 70 per kilogram at Palladam. The retail price, however, hovers around Rs 180-200 per kilogram.
Broiler Coordination Committee - President K Chinnasami said, "Sale of birds came down as soon as rains started and buyers in Coimbatore, Nilgris, Dindigul, Erode and Tiruppur reduced orders. Also the rains disrupted transportation of birds. In terms of production cost, this is a big loss for poultry farmers."
T Murugesan, a poultry owner in Palladam, "I have two small farms with 4,000 birds in Arakulam village. The price drop has hit me hard, since the production cost of broilers is Rs 90 per kilogram. But, the price has dropped to Rs 70."
"This is a huge loss for small farmers like me. I cannot afford the production cost and must sell the birds immediately. But there are no buyers. Poultry farmers fear that prices will go down further. Some farmers have started selling birds for Rs 65," he said.
Elaborating the production cost, Eswaramoorthi, a poultry owner said, "A chicken weighs 2.25 kilogram. The bird attains 2 kilos in 44 days.The current weather is good and birds gain weight easily. But the demand has dropped. The feed cost includes soya (35 per cent) and corn (65 per cent). Together with infrastructure cost like power connection, labour cost and vaccination, the cost comes to around Rs 90 per kilo for a farm owner."