LAHORE: Broiler Farmers Association General Secretary Asif Gondal has warned that chicken meat may become rare within the next two months due to a sharp increase in taxes imposed on the poultry sector.

He announced that broiler farmers were preparing to stage protests and if their demands were not accepted, they could shut down poultry farms across the country.

Addressing a press briefing here on Friday, Mr Gondal said rising production costs would severely disrupt the supply chain. He alleged that the government was collecting up to 63-65 percent taxes on chicken and its meat, making the state itself the primary reason for rising prices.

“Chicken, once the cheapest source of protein, has been made extremely expensive by government policies,” he said.

He further stated that while a chick sells for less than Rs20, the government was charging Rs10 as tax per chick. In addition, a 4pc further sales tax had recently been imposed, despite food items not being eligible for double taxation.

“With such heavy taxation, chicken cannot remain affordable; it will inevitably become more expensive,” he added.

The association warned that Pakistan already faced serious malnutrition, with around 40pc of children suffering from nutritional deficiencies. “The coming chicken crisis could be worse than all previous crises,” Mr Gondal cautioned.

Referring to past policies, he said that there was no sales tax on chicken before 2014, which led to higher production and better availability. Despite government claims of efforts to reduce chicken prices, the state had imposed more than 40pc taxes. “With such excessive taxation, it appears the government does not want the poor to have access to affordable chicken,” he said.

Broiler farmers reiterated that they would launch peaceful protests if their demands were ignored and warned that, as a last resort, poultry farms would be closed. They also clarified that while live broiler chicken was exempt from sales tax, the overall tax burden on the sector remained excessively high, threatening both supply and affordability.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2026