Shakeela Farooq, chief scientific officer for poultry research at the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute, said her calculations showed that the cost of production for one chick could be as high as 35 taka.
However, the actual price was Rs 15 on January 19 and reached Rs 60 in February.
Shahidur believes that companies make extra profits whenever possible to cover losses.
Even two years back Enamul’s farm was flourishing in Kushtia but later closed down. The feed prices were low and there would be profit even after buying the chicks at a higher price.
“Feed prices were 500-600 Tk less then. But now food, medicines, labor – everything has become expensive. The companies control everything.
Suman, the leader of the Poltars, has the same idea. “We are in the hands of the companies that produce and feed the chickens. About 10 to 12 companies are leading this whole matter. These include Kazi Feed, Paragon, Nahar, BPIC and others, but all are keen to capitalize on this.
Several poultrymen in Savar, Rajshahi’s Bagha and Rangpur said that a 50 kg bag of poultry feed would cost Tk 2,400-2,500 in mid-2021. It went up to 2,700-2,800 taka in the middle of last year before jumping to 3,380-3,420 taka later in December. It was around 3,550 taka till February; The latest price is Rs 3,650 per bag.
According to a poultry farmer in Savar, it takes 300 kg of fodder to make every 100 chickens sellable. The farmers had to count 7 taka more for each chicken in a month and a half. An increase of 100 takas from 10 February increased the expenditure by another 6 takas.
Monwar Hussain, a poultry farmer from Bagha, said that the prices of the medicine have doubled.