Ludhiana: In a big breather for the poultry industry and chicken traders of Ludhiana, who had been witnessing a steep fall in the demand of poultry products, the rates of dressed chicken and broiler have started limping back towards normal as demand has started picking up again. Barring wholesale rates of eggs, the rates of other products have increased.
The rate of dressed chicken which fell to Rs 120 per kg from Rs 200 touched Rs 150 on Monday. Meanwhile, the rate of chick, which fell to Rs 50 per piece from Rs 90 too corrected on Monday and reached Rs 63. Businessmen are jubilant over the development and they are of the view that surge in demand was mainly due to zero cases of bird flu in state and state government’s constant monitoring of the situation and checks.
Bhupinder Singh, president of Punjab Wholesale Poultry Association, said, “After a week of witnessing huge fall in the demand and rates of the poultry and allied products we have heaved a sigh of relief as the rates of broiler and dressed chicken have started stabilising. The rate of dressed chicken has now come back in the range of Rs 140-150 per kg after it crashed to Rs 120 per kg. This has happened due to surge in demand as residents have again started consuming non-vegetarian products after briefly halting the consumption as panic spread in Punjab due to bird flu cases in other states. We are also thankful to the state government for taking steps like constant monitoring and sampling in the state to check bird flu cases and also spreading message to the public widely that there was no danger of bird flu in Punjab.”
According to Ramandeep Singh, a poultry trader from city, “There has been bounce back in the rates of raw chicken and chick, but the current situation has failed to bring about any change in the demand of eggs and the rate of 100 pieces of eggs as on date has fallen to Rs 472, which was Rs 572 per 100 pieces a week back. But I think by Wednesday, we will see a correction in the rates of eggs as demand is picking up, but due to huge supply already available the rate has not seen any correction.”
Dilbagh Singh, a non-vegetarian products trader and retailer, said, “For one week there was a huge drop in our business and our sales plummeted by 90%. But thankfully, ever since Saturday customers have again started coming back and our sales have picked up. Though it will still take a few days for our business to get back to the earlier level, but we are happy with the development. As of now, in the segment of raw chicken, maximum demand is for frozen products in the market as people consider it a more safe option.”