Selling product at Rs 60 per kilo, buyers paying Rs 200
Bhubaneswar, July 26(Reporters Today Bureau): Poultry farmers in Odisha are in lurch. In the absence of any mechanism of State Government they are forced to sell their products at abysmally low rates while the consumers are buying their quantities at the normal existing rates. A consumer is buying broiler chicken meat at Rs 200 to Rs 230 per kilo—sometimes over Rs 400 per kilo for chicken meat of local variety- ‘Desi.’ The absence of any mechanism to ensure a proper rate for the poultry farmers has hit them below the belt at a time when the State Government is organizing expos to promote food processing industry, including sea food and chicken.
Being an unorgnised sector in State so far, an exact volume of product in Odisha is not immediately available or the daily consumption.
According to a small poultry farmer in Dhenkanal, the traders are offering rates between Rs 60 to Rs 80 per kilogram while in Khudha a farmer said that he barely managed Rs 90 per kilo. A survey of the market in Bhubaneswar revealed that chicken meat is sold between Rs 180 and Rs 240 depending on the variety and availability. The interesting factor is that chicken meat and fish etc are generally sold for only four days in a week – Sunday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays due to religious considerations. The sale also dwindles in some months like Kartik and Shravan considered holy in Hindu religion. There are few outlets in the city where non-vegetarian stuff—cooked and uncooked–are sold on a daily basis.
In such a situation, the poultry farmers find themselves in a piquant situation.
Notably, Odisha has progressed a lot in poultry sector since 2000 after the host of initiatives were launched by the State Government. A state which was dependent totally on neighbouring Andhra Pradesh for its poultry product had progressed considerably and had almost become self sufficient in eggs and chicken meat following encouragement of the sector. But lack of food processing units has now made these poultry farmers—most of whom are highly educated—desperate to sustain their businesses.
In Odisha, mutton is sold between Rs 650 to Rs 700 while the average price of fish of different varieties is between Rs 150 to Rs 200. The fingernails cost more and sea fish varieties are costilier.
Recently, State Government organized a FoodPro expo to encourage food processing industries in the State. The solution to the distress of the poultry farmers is processing industries and mechanism to ensure selling their products outside the state.