Poultry business professionals said that the poultry farming sector, which has been in decline since the coronavirus pandemic, is still not without challenges.
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Poultry businessmen preparing to celebrate the 13th National Poultry Day have said that they are doing business worth 150 billion rupees annually.
The then King Mahendra inaugurated the Central Hatchery in Parwanipur, Bara on 17th Poush, 2017. Businessmen believe that modern poultry began in Nepal after that. National Poultry Day has been celebrated in Nepal since 17th Poush in 2070.
At a press conference organized by the Nepal Poultry Entrepreneurs Forum in Bharatpur on Tuesday to provide information about Poultry Day, businessmen said that the poultry farming sector, which has been declining since the coronavirus pandemic, is still not without challenges.
Forum President Raghunath Bhatta said that before the coronavirus pandemic, there were 14 hatcheries producing layer chickens for eggs in Nepal. Now they have come down to seven. Bhatta also informed that the number of hatcheries producing broiler chickens for meat has come down from 340 to 109. Before the coronavirus pandemic, there were more than 200 feed industries, but now they have shrunk to 115.
According to Bhatta, an investment of Rs 160 billion has been made in the poultry industry in Nepal. Similarly, he said that the annual turnover is equivalent to Rs 145 billion.
Although Nepal is almost self-sufficient in chicks, feed, chicken eggs and meat, feed raw materials, medicines, vaccines and tools and equipment are mostly imported. Bhatta said that up to 70 percent of feed raw materials are imported. He also said that 90 percent of medicines and 95 percent of vaccines and tools and equipment are being imported.
Umeshchanda Sapkota, the central president of the Nepal Feed Industry Association, said that earlier most of the corn was also imported. Now, this has improved due to the increase in corn cultivation in Nepal. ‘Currently, less than 50 percent of the corn required for feed is imported. 99 percent of the soybean we need is imported. This has happened because there is no production here,’ said Sapkota.
Feed accounts for 70 percent of the expenditure in the poultry farming sector. Therefore, he said that raw materials imported from abroad have increased the cost. ‘It is difficult to produce vaccines immediately. "It is not possible to make tools, equipment and technology on its own. If the government encourages it, maize and soybean cultivation can be increased," said Rajendra Lamichhane, central president of the Nepal Poultry Industry Association. Bhatta informed that 45 billion rupees are being spent on importing raw materials and other items required for the poultry business.
