After veggies, poultry rate runs riot

Bhubaneswar: At a time when prices of tomato, lemon and other vegetables are burning a hole in pockets, soaring rates of chicken and mutton have added to the financial burden of households.
Broiler chicken is being sold at Rs 280 per kg forcing consumers to reduce consumption of their favourite non-vegetarian items, while fast food stalls and eateries are the worst hit due to the high prices.
Increase in chicken feed and wholesale price, rise in demand due to the wedding season and drop in supply has led to the rise in chicken prices. Some varieties like banaraj are selling at Rs 300 per kg. Traders said the price of broiler chicken will touch Rs 300 in the next few days.
“Mutton was already out of bounds as the prices have crossed Rs 800 per kg long ago. Chicken was the main source of protein. Earlier we used to have chicken twice or sometimes thrice a week. But after the prices increased by Rs 50 per kg in the last couple of weeks, we have cut it down to once a week,” said Mitali Mohapatra, a homemaker.
In the last week of April, broiler chicken was being sold at Rs 200-220 per kg, but the price has increased to Rs 250-280 per kg forcing many households to cut down on their weekly chicken intake.
“Prices have increased steadily in the past few weeks mainly due to the steep rise in chicken feed, high petrol and diesel prices, shortage in production during summer. Demand for chicken has increased due to the wedding season but short supply has also contributed to rise in prices,” Prakash Parida, a chicken seller at Indradhanu market in Nayapalli, said.
Poultry farmers said the prices of chicken feed and medicines, soya meal, corn, vitamins and amino acids have increased substantially overburdening them, especially small farmers. Many small farmers are selling out chicks before they are fully grown leading to shortage and price rise.
Restaurants, fast food centres and small eateries are facing difficulties due to the rise of chicken prices along with that of vegetables and spices. Badly hit during Covid, business was slowly returning to normalcy, but due to high prices of cooking gas and other ingredients we are not making profit. If prices go up further, we will be forced to close shop,” said Raju Mallik, a fast-food stall owner at Unit-IV.
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