Chennai fry: Summer putschicken price in free flight

CHENNAI: Prices of broiler

chicken

have left the coop and gone right through the roof — touching Rs 240/kg on Sunday, up by around Rs 50/kg from the previous week — with poultry growers blaming soaring summer temperatures for the startling increase and the annual

fishing ban

sinking demand for seafood.


Queuing up early on Sunday to make purchases for the kitchen, customers were visibly shocked at the mark-up in prices from the normal band of between Rs 160/kg and Rs 190/kg at retail chicken outlets across the city.

“The

price

of broiler chicken was as low as Rs 160/kg last month,” said Ajith John Balan, a resident of Arumbakkam. A few residents expressed concern about the double whammy from rocketing broiler chicken prices and the increase in price of almost all varieties of fish that accompanies the period during the two-month period of the fishing ban.

Poultry farmers said summer heat had increased the chicken mortality rate, leading to a dip in production and a rise in prices.

“Due to the heat, birds die easily,” said R Gunasekaran, a poultry grower in Namakkal. “The chickens also don’t put on weight as quickly as they do in other seasons. This means that they take more time to grow and, with the rise in mortality rate, also a shortage in markets.”

Across Tamil Nadu, farm gate rates (the procurement rate at the poultry farm) of broiler chicken increased by Rs 16 to Rs 19 in the first two weeks of May, taking the price in Chennai from Rs 69/kg in April to Rs 90/kg on May 1 and Rs 109/kg on May 12. Retail prices increased correspondingly.

Representatives of the Broiler Coordination Committee, which is responsible for fixing broiler chicken prices in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, were unavailable for comment.

It is usual for prices to go up during summer due to shortage of supply, chicken vendors told TOI, but added that this year’s prices are much higher than the same time last year.

“The price will reduce by about Rs 50/kg in July or August,” said I Ibris, who runs a chicken and mutton stall on East Coast Road.

The increase in broiler chicken price is also likely to reflect on the price of eggs. Poultry farmers said the number of production batches have reduced marginally due to the summer temperatures.

“We are now able to make a profit from a retail price of Rs 3.75 per egg,” said R Subramaniam, an Erode-based egg farmer. “When the demand rises, or if the cost of chicken feed increases, the price of eggs will go up.”