Kathmandu, December 2

While Nepal is becoming self-sufficient in chicken products, stakeholders have called on the government to regulate poultry farming in the country.

Organising a press meet here today, Nepal Poultry Market Management Association has urged the government to regulate the domestic poultry market.

Speaking at the event, Jhanak Poudel, president of the association, said that poultry sector in the country lacks proper policies and is riddled with technical problems.

“Although the poultry sector is flourishing, lack of proper policies is a major drawback for further expansion,” he said.

“The main issues that the government needs to look into are easy availability of bank loans and low interest rates,” Poudel said, adding that the government also needs to provide investment security and grants to farmers in rural areas.

The other aspect that the state needs to look into is setting a minimum price like in paddy and sugarcane for chicken products, according to him. “The price of chicken products should be set annually based on the farmers’ investments.”

Poudel claimed that although the price of feed, medicines and chicks has been rising each year, farmers are obliged to sell their products at prices that have remained the same since long. “To end this situation, the government needs to form a committee to study the market and fix the price,” he added.

“Moreover, lack of government level monitoring is giving rise to irregularities in the poultry sector,” he said. “Every year tonnes of chicken products are being imported illegally through the porous border with the southern neighbour that ultimately has a detrimental effect on the price of chicken and chicken products in Nepal.”

As per Poudel, the illegally imported chicken products are comparatively cheaper than locally produced products and this affects the local farmers.

Meanwhile, Padma Raj Koirala, vice president of the association, highlighted the lack of technical knowledge in the local poultry sector. “There is lack of technical knowledge for modernisation of poultry farming practices,” he said, adding, “Both the private sector and government have to work together to conduct awareness programmes, enhance technical knowledge and provide skillbased training.”

He further said that issues related to poultry farming include distribution of substandard feeds, lack of commercial knowledge, lack of investment and security, lack of direct access to the market for farmers and the differences among traders themselves.

As per the association, the country produces 1.2 million kilograms of chicken daily.