by Suresh Perera
As Sri Lanka’s crisis-hit poultry industry struggled to restore normalcy in the market, the death of around 70,000 birds as a result of the recent deluge, is expected to impact adversely on the trade, especially at a time the demand has shot up in the backdrop of soaring fish prices, officials warned last week.
The floods, which virtually wiped out poultry farms and destroyed machinery and equipment in the Jaela-Negombo sector, came at a time this vital industry had stepped up production to meet the dearth of chicken in the marketplace.
Two farms of a major industry player were also amongst those inundated, killing thousands of birds swept away by the raging floods, the officials said. "Some of these farms were located in areas which were not traditionally flood-prone, but what happened was unprecedented".
"We were working concertedly towards restoring supplies by the end of June, but the destruction caused by the deluge could reflect adversely on the market", says Dr. D. D. Wanasinghe, Chairman of the All Island Poultry Association."We need to correct this situation and move forward to end the shortage which has eased to a great extent now", he stressed. "With enhanced production, supply volumes are picking up significantly.
When told that there was no chicken available at two major supermarkets last week, he said a marginal shortage still exists and compounding the situation is the sudden upsurge in demand as the price of fish has zoomed.
Asked about complaints that the major poultry producers preferred to supply the live market at a higher price than supermarkets which have to sell chicken with skin at the 350 rupees per kilo controlled price, Dr. Wanasinghe said there could have been a distribution hiccup at some point.
"The supplies we receive our inadequate", a supermarket official pointed out. "They don’t meet our orders in full and customers blame us when there is no chicken available".
Dr. Wanasinghe conceded that with the upsurge in demand in the backdrop of the existing dearth, producers may be focusing more on cash sales rather than credit plus the 20% discount sought by supermarkets.
"With the discount, they have to supply these outlets at 305 rupees per kilo, which is the actual cost of production", he explained. "And also wait for some time to be paid".
He said that some grocery stores sold chicken over and above the controlled price in the absence of effective action to bring such culprits to book. "They are openly exploiting consumers".
"The poultry industry is one key sector which does not receive any government assistance", he complained. "We have to fend for ourselves".
He said that poultry farmers whose stock and equipment were destroyed by the floods have to now restart from scratch sans any government help. There was one farmer whose entire stock of 2,500 birds was washed away.
"Poultry farmers have to pay heavy taxes to the government but when they are in distress, there is nobody they can turn to for help", Dr. Wanasinghe said.
The government, which earlier explored the possibility of importing chicken to meet the shortage, gave up the idea following fears of the bird flu threat.
source - www.island.lk
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