TOBA TEK SINGH: The poultry sector is on the brink of collapse, with every poultry farmer suffering substantial losses.

Dr Sajjad Arshad, senior vice president of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI), said during a meeting of poultry farmers on Wednesday.

He warned that this situation would impact the export of eggs and chicken meat, depriving people of an affordable protein source.

Dr Arshad said that Pakistan produces 17,500 million eggs and 1,440 million kilogrammes of chicken meat annually.

He said that in 2022, Pakistan exported 16.8 million eggs while in 2023-24 115,664 tonnes of chicken meat and chicken products had also been exported. He said that in Pakistan the ratio of the consumption of chicken meat was only 7.20 kilo per head while every Pakistani take only 88 eggs per annum which was far below than the international standard.

Expressing concern over government policies, Dr Arshad stated that recent measures are hampering the sector’s growth. The imposition of sales tax on poultry farmers, while agricultural farmers remain exempt, has further exacerbated the situation.

He argued that both sectors should be treated equally and called for the withdrawal of the sales tax on poultry farming. Due to ongoing losses, poultry farmers are depleting their actual capital instead of earning profits.

Dr Arshad warned that liquidity problems would prevent farmers from raising new chicks, leading to the closure of poultry farms. This would result in an acute shortage of chicken meat in domestic markets, aggravating malnutrition and stunted growth among children, which already affects 40pc of the population.

He urged the government to revisit its policies and provide support to the poultry sector to ensure the availability of affordable protein for the population.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2024