Visakhapatnam: Turning pricey, chicken disappears from menus

Visakhapatnam: Not a great news for chicken lovers as a majority of them have to make do with the menus without their favourite dish or limit their frequency of consumption as the prices skyrocket. For many non-vegetarians, resisting chicken could be quite challenging. However, with the poultry industry registering a drop in production followed by a price hike, many families exclude the otherwise sought-after item from their menus.

At a time when the livestock production sector is slowly recovering from the Covid-hit phase, drop in the production comes as another blow for the industry. Rise in the poultry feed costs has eventually impacted the production.

In recent times, an apparent reduction of 20-25 per cent is witnessed in the production. Another worrying factor, the poultry farmers share, is the consumption pattern which is affected largely due to the pandemic-induced job losses. "Broiler chicks are often sourced from Hyderabad and other places. This has come down a lot in recent weeks. Earlier, the production exceeded the demand and it affected the price of the chicks. Following which, the production has seen a considerable drop," explains K Srinu, a poultry farmer.

Currently, a kg of chicken costs Rs 280. Depending on the area, the rate varies either Rs 10 extra or low. "A few weeks before, the chicken cost per kg was hovering around Rs 200. Though the same price continued for a while, it has shot up in recent times. This has eventually resulted in a low consumption pattern as not many carry large quantities of chicken as before," reasons T Ramana, who operates a chicken shop.

Poultry association representatives predict that the situation is not going to improve much in the coming weeks and that the business is likely to look bleak for a while.