Love chicken biryani, Tangdi Kebab? Gear up to pay more as prices set to rise in Telangana

Hyderabad: Your favourite chicken dum biryani, tangdi kebab and chicken tikka are set to cost more, as meat prices are expected to rise by at least 15 per cent. The increase is attributed to a sharp rise in poultry feed prices amid the El Niño impact.

Over the past few months, prices of key poultry feed ingredients have risen sharply. The price of maize has increased from Rs 18-19 per kg to Rs 34-35, while soya prices have risen from Rs 40 to Rs 60-70 per kg.

This has pushed up production costs for both layer and breeder farms. While the cost of producing an egg is around Rs 6, farmers are selling it for Rs 4.50 to Rs 5, forcing them to incur losses. Currently, chicken is priced between Rs 210 and Rs 230 per kg.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Indian Poultry Equipment Manufacturers’ Association-Poultry India president Uday Singh Bayas said companies and poultry farmers had used their available stocks to manage the increase in feed costs.

“Price of maize, which is the major feedstock for poultry, has gone up significantly. Today, the soya price has also risen by almost Rs 65,000 per metric tonne, which is a jump of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per metric tonne. Given the increased cost of stocks, chicken and egg prices will definitely go up by 10 to 15 per cent very soon,” he said.

Telangana Poultry Federation president K Mohan Reddy said the poultry industry was facing difficult times due to the El Niño impact. “Feedstock prices have gone up considerably in the last few months,” he said.

He said the government had released nearly 15 lakh metric tonnes of maize and 2.40 lakh metric tonnes of soya. However, traders had hoarded the stocks instead of releasing them into the market, creating an artificial shortage.

“Nearly 5 lakh metric tonnes are lying in traders’ warehouses, leading to an artificial shortage and pushing up prices,” Reddy alleged.

He called for government intervention to ensure that feedstock reaches the market. He also urged the government to direct the Civil Supplies department or other relevant agencies to conduct raids on godowns and take action against traders hoarding stocks.

Telangana poultry industry at glance

Poultry population

• Layers: 5.5 crore

• Broilers: 2.6 crore per month (chick replacement)

• Breeders population: 65 lakh laying

Poultry Farmers

• Layers – 2,000

• Broilers – 10,000

• Breeder – 150

Egg production / Availability / Per Capita consumption

• Egg production / day – 3.8 crore

• Consumption in the State– 2.0 crore

• Outside the state (exports) – 1.8 crore (Mainly Maharashtra, UP and MP)

• Per capita availability of egg – 506

• Per capita Consumption of egg – 180

• Per capita Consumption of egg in India – 106

Chicken – Meat Production / availability / consumption

• Chicken Meat Production (Broilers) – 12 lakh birds per day sale

• Meat consumption – 1.5 lakh kg/day

• Per capita consumption of chicken meat – 12 kg

• National level – 7.5 kgs