This was demanded by Mir Tahir Ali Zaid, Central Chairman Pakistan Poultry Association, at a press conference held at the Lahore Press Club on Wednesday. He said that the drop in the price of day-old broiler chicks and live broilers is resulting in a capital drain of millions of rupees every day.

For the first time in the history of commercial poultry farming in Pakistan, millions of broiler-hatching eggs are being sold as table eggs every day at 50 percent of the production cost. This crisis, in terms of the capital drain, is greater than the bird flu of February 2006, because of the magnitude of the production. Besides, the high fuel and energy prices have increased the production cost, which has put an increased burden on broiler producers.

He said that the cost of production of chicken and eggs in Pakistan is higher than other countries of the region but during recurring episodes of over-production, we sell poultry at much below the production cost as compared to the prevailing international prices.

Now that Pakistan has been declared “free” from H5 N1 or the bird flu virus, the surplus production should be exported with government support to prevent the loss of billions of rupees and earn valuable foreign exchange, he demanded.

Source: Daily Times