If the government does not give the industry urgent assistance, the Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) has warned of a major increase in the price of poultry products.
The latest floods have caused extensive damage to the poultry sector.
Ghulam Khaliq, senior vice chairman of PPA-Southern area, claimed that 70 percent of farms and related assets were destroyed by the recent floods, resulting in losses of billions of rupees.
He bemoaned the government’s decision to impose a sales tax on chicken feed and medicine last month, which he claimed was a contributing factor in the 60 percent increase in poultry prices.
The PPA has not provided a precise number for the increase in poultry prices but has predicted that there would be a sizable increase soon.The price of chicken has been affected by the recent increases in power and fuel prices, which could result in a large price increase.
Salman Munir, vice chairman of the PPA, expressed further alarm over the Sindh government’s refusal to renew farmers’ land leases. According to him, this action may result in the closure of several farms in inner Sindh and even in Karachi’s suburbs.
The PPA representatives urged the government to compensate farmers for their losses, postpone for at least six months the implementation of sales taxes on medicines and poultry feed raw materials, ban the export of corn (the raw material used to make poultry feed), reduce electricity prices, and extend the land lease for another 99 years.
PPA leaders highlighted the losses by stating that the floods killed between 300,000 and 350,000 birds in Lasbela alone.