Rising mercury gives wing to chicken prices

Visakhapatnam: Chicken prices went up in north coastal Andhra Pradesh as the temperatures began shooting up draining out pockets of meat lovers.

The broiler chicken (skin less) which was Rs 170 per kg a fortnight ago went up to Rs 210 on Wednesday and the country chicken which was Rs 320 per kg began costing around Rs 420 per kg.

The poultry businessmen predicted that the prices will further increase with proportionate increase in the day temperature in the coming weeks and will touch Rs 250 a kg for the skinless broiler chicken. The demand for the white meat had gone as people were not finding many varieties of vegetables in the market. Visakhapatnam city on Wednesday recorded 33 degrees Celsius while the rural areas, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram, the mercury is close to 40 degrees Celsius. Harvesting of sea food has also came down resulting in higher prices.

People, who are habituated in eating fresh water fish, have abandoned eating since they are losing freshness due to the harsh weather conditions. Red meat is ruled out for the middle class due to higher prices. Mutton costs around Rs 450 per kg. Now the only option is chicken or eggs. Citing reasons for escalation of chicken prices, poultry farmers said the heat wave has been killing the birds and on the other hand the input costs had gone up. Most of the farmers have cut down their production and plan to launch full scale operations with the onset of the monsoon.

Visakhapatnam city alone consumes 10 lakh kg per month. Srikakulam and Vizianagaram and the rural Visakhapatnam consumes another 15 lakh kgs. People said the hotels and fast food sellers also increased the prices of their food varieties.