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Food security: Prices of poultry products rise

14 Aug 2022

 
  • Industry seeks relief from Govt.
  • Industry production down by 40%
  The All-Ceylon Poultry Association (ACPA) yesterday (13) warned of an increase in the prices of eggs and chicken due to a spike in consumption and drop in production. According to ACPA Chairman Ajith Gunawardena, the price of an egg has risen to Rs. 60 and a kilo of chicken has risen to Rs. 1,300. Gunawardena told The Sunday Morning that with the easing of fuel supply shortages and availability of transportation, the last three weeks had seen a surge in demand for poultry products. “Our production has dropped by 40% as we have been unable to import key ingredients for animal feed since March. This is due to the dollar shortage and restrictions placed on imports. The lack of fuel also affected production and production costs have also increased,” he said. Gunawardena added that the locally-available animal feed ingredients had also shot up in price. “Maize was Rs. 70 per kilo in March and now it’s Rs. 270. Many of our SME groups have stepped away from the industry due to high costs,” he explained. Gunawardena said that the Association had indicated to the relevant ministries that they could not sustain production under the current conditions and had asked for relief measures to be provided. “We hope to meet them this month. We need to solve this issue before the tourist season,” he added.   


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