Himalayan News Service

Biratnagar, February 20:

The prohibition on the import of chicken and chicken products, imposed last year following fears over Bird flu, has made its impact felt now. While broiler production has gone down by 60 per cent, prices have gone up by 40 per cent.

The government imposed a ban last February on the import of chicken products to avert the effect of Bird flu, following the death of millions of chickens globally from the epidemic.

The prices have now gone up as supply could not meet the market demand and production went down since the chicks (Mau Challa) were not available in time, entrepreneurs said. There is no hatchery in the country and chicks are imported from Thailand, India and other countries, said manager of the Pashupati Feed, Surya Adhikari. Even India, a source country for Nepal, is facing shortage of chicks, which has brought down the production of broiler chicken, Adhikari said. India was one of the Bird flu affected countries.

The shortage could continue for the next two months, entrepreneurs said. Casualty of chickens is usually high from mid-December till mid-May. The price rise this year is unusual which is caused by the import ban, Gyanendra Parajuli of the Sagar Feed Industries, said.

In the past, price did not rise despite rise in demands. But, this year price rise has been in the range of 30 to 40 per cent, compared to last year’s price, Champa Rajbhandari, a local consumer said. The current price is Rs 130 per kg, while it was Rs 110 3 weeks ago. It is the consequence of the ban imposed on import of chicks for five months last year, he said.

The prohibition to import from other countries, except from SAARC region is still in effect. Even while importing chics from the SAARC region, certain regulations need to be followed, Parajuli informed.

While stating that the supply of broiler chickens has been low for the last three weeks, Pradip Bimali of the Pathibhara Fresh House, said, “Chicken prices will rise if the situation continues like this. Because, it will take at least three months for fresh stocks to arrive.” Head of Animal Quarantine in Biratnagar, Dr Binod Kumar Mallik, admitted the shortage.