LAHORE: The poultry and dairy industry on Friday shocked as one of the major feed mills announced its closure due to a ban on raw material import and the unavailability of local inputs.

A notice issued by the Hi-Tech Feeds Pvt Ltd, Raiwind Road, to its employees on Thursday said that the unit is being closed from Jan 31, 2023, due to business instability, ever-increasing power and gas tariffs and unprecedented loadshedding, exorbitant rise in the raw material costs as well as its unavailability.

Ban on imports, an unaffordable increase in markup rates by banks and declining poultry feed sales are the other reasons behind the management’s decision to shut down the factory permanently.

Reacting to the news of the closure of the first feed mills, Dairy & Cattle Farmers Association of Pakistan President Shakir Umar Gujjar fears that it is a harbinger of a food security crisis soon. He alleges that local grain is being exported at throwaway prices despite opposition from the local farming industry and feed mills.

He alleges that the import of the raw material needed for the feed mills has been banned on the excuse of GMO-only to seek bribes by the authorities to the disadvantage of the national interest.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2022