Shawdesh Desk:

The price of broiler chickens witnessed a further rise on the kitchen markets in the capital Dhaka by up to Tk 20 over the past two weeks, which caused lower-income group of consumers to reduce buying the item.

Traders on Friday said that the price hike was due to a large number of chickens dying amid the recent heatwave across the country and the rise in price of poultry feeds.

The price of broiler chicken increased by Tk 10-20 a kilogram on the city markets and the item sold for Tk 230-240 a kilogram on Friday.

Two weeks ago, broiler chicken sold for Tk 210-220, according to the traders.

Locally bred hens sold for Tk 700-750 a kilogram on the day, which was about Tk 80-100 Tk less two to three weeks ago, traders said.

Sonalika variety of chicken sold for Tk 340–360 a kilogram in the city on Friday.

White layer chickens sold for Tk 320-340, which was Tk 300-320 two weeks back.

Only the price of the red layer chickens remained stable, they said.

The Department of Agricultural Marketing on March 15 set the prices of broiler chicken and Sonalika at Tk 175.30 a kilogram and Tk 262 a kilogram respectively, which has gone unimplemented so far.

Riad Hossain, a private sector employee, said that chicken was a cheap source of meat for his family. If prices of chicken continued to rise, he would have to decrease the amount of chickens he buys for his family in a week, he said.

At trader from New Market kitchen market said that chicken supply on the markets declined as a large number of chickens died amid the recent heatwave.

Md Sanu Mia, a trader from Hatirpool Bazar in the capital, said that a spike in the price of poultry feed was another reason for the hike in prices of chickens.

‘Earlier, 25 kilograms of poultry feed could be bought by Tk 1,040, which rose to Tk 1,450 recently. How would poultry farmers be able to sell chickens at previous prices?’ he asked.

Traders also claimed that they faced extortion on the roads while transporting chickens. Amid these problems, it is not possible to sell chickens at cheap prices, they said.

Not only the prices of chickens, but also those of other essential commodities remained high on the kitchen markets in the capital Dhaka on Friday.

Traders said that the prices of the vegetable usually witness a rise during the summer season.

The supply of vegetable has decreased on the markets and the items get spoiled quickly in the heat. Therefore, the price of most vegetables is on the rise, they added.