9th Feb, 2006 - IT is reported that around 2,600 poultry farms have been set up by young people in 16 districts of Rajshahi Division. These youngsters, of both sexes, got encouragement to set up such farms after obtaining training on management of poultry farms. They obtained small amounts of capital from banks and NGOs for meeting basic expenditure on buying incubators, poultry feed and eggs for producing poultry for the local market.
The poultry farms have created job opportunities for quite a large number of workers. These workers in rural areas have started earning wages and meeting the demand of food, shelter and medicare. Some entrepreneurs and workers have extended fiscal support to their parents and other members of their families. They have turned poultry farming as a productive and profitable sector and have met the increasing demand for chicken.
The demand for input including poultry feed and eggs and small chicks has increased. Farms in the northern districts have thus started facing some problems. One of the major problem is the inadequate supply of poultry feed. The other problems is the smuggling of eggs and poultry from neighbouring India to the local market. Yet, other problems are related to the low price of chicken. The middlemen buying and sending poultry to urban areas sometimes keep payment of price pending for weeks and months together.
Some owners of poultry farms have been thus incurring loss. Against this backdrop, uptrend in the price of inputs turns all too much disastrous. If the poultry farms are closed, the prevailing job opportunities for rural workers will be reduced. Beyond that, the demand in the local market will encourage some business people to import chickens and eggs from other countries. The poultry farm sector needs due attention from supporting agencies.
