There was a time when regular citizens did not have to recalculate their monthly budget every time they planned to buy a chicken for the week.
However, with chicken meat prices skyrocketing to new highs, it appears that if this trend continues, the chicken will become a scarce item for many in the country. Exactly like mutton.
This avalanche of price increases has not only enveloped consumers but also individuals selling poultry.
The price of chicken meat has risen because of an increase in feed prices, according to poultry farmer Malik Noman of Karachi’s Gadap district.
He stated that a bag of 50 kg of poultry feed cost Rs1,800 in 2018, but is currently sold for Rs4,500.
Noman said that the price increase is notably noticeable for chicken imported from Sindh’s interior.
Furthermore, he stated that the rising dollar rate and overall inflation had affected his firm.
Chicken breeding is mostly practised in Sindh and Balochistan. They do not think that if supply returns to normal, prices will fall.
Price of chicken
Chicken meat has become quite expensive in Karachi, as it is in other regions of Pakistan. Chicken, with thigh and neck, costs Rs580 per kilogramme, up from Rs500 before Eidul Fitr. On the other side, chicken prices have risen in Lahore, where a kilogramme costs Rs400.
A guy buying chicken said that it used to be that everyone, regardless of socioeconomic level, could purchase chicken, but today it seems unattainable.
Residents in Peshawar are in the same scenario. The price of a kilogramme of chicken has risen by Rs75 in three days, reaching Rs331.
Before Eid, one resident resorted to purchasing live hens, most of which perished. To make a profit, he sold the remaining hens at a higher price.
Another cause for the price hike is a disruption in supplies from Punjab.
Works at The Truth International Magazine. My area of interest includes international relations, peace & conflict studies, qualitative & quantitative research in social sciences, and world politics. Reach@ aimen.bukhari@tti.org.pk
