Booming land and housing transactions may have brought cheers to Chitwan folks. But the ever growing realty sector has weakened poultry sector´s dominance in the district, which once used to command more than 80 percent of total poultry production in the country. The skyrocketing price of land spurred by increasing trend of migration to the district and subsequent problems in maintaining bio-security - a scientific sanitation in poultry farm to avert poultry disease - has been repelling poultry investors from Chitwan. “The identity of Chitwan as a poultry hub would be no longer the same in the next five years if the current boom seen in realty sector continues,” said Guna Chandra Bista, a leading poultry entrepreneur in Chitwan. Poultry boom in Chitwan began in 1995, following a mega poultry expo in the district organized with the initiation of local business people. The district, which holds more than 50 percent share of total poultry business in the country, alone records an annual poultry transaction of Rs 5 billion. Poultry entrepreneurs have invested more than Rs 10 billion in the district alone. “Registration and operation of new poultry farms in Chitwan is almost nil in the last couple of years. Worse still, poultry farms in the district are searching new places to shift their farms outside Chitwan in recent days,” said Guna Chandra Bista, former president of Nepal Hatchery Association. Areas that were once occupied by poultry farms have now been converted into human settlements and housing plots due to skyrocketing prices of land and rising migrant population. “Areas connected with wide roads and those that have electricity facility are considered ideal for poultry farming. But such places are fast converting into residential areas,” said Bista, who is also proprietor of country´s largest hatchery -- Abinash Hatchery. According to farmers, at least eight bighas (approximately six hectares) of land is required to accommodate 30,000 layers. Due to skyrocketing land prices in the district, poultry investors are now shifting to other less crowded and cheaper places in Tarai and mid-hill districts having the facilities of roads and electricity. “As the district is getting insecure in terms of bio-security necessary for poultry farms, it has not seen the entry of new poultry farms in recent months,” said Bista, who has also opened a poultry farm in Nawalparasi, a neighboring district. Bista also said some poultry farms are facing foreclosure after failing to repay the bank loan due to adverse business climate that seriously affected the poultry sector. “Poultry farms in the district are making way for residential plots, as poultry entrepreneurs shift their focus on realty sector which is more profitable than the risky poultry business,” Bista added. Dr Til Chandra Bhattarai, a poultry researcher, said Baglung, Nuwakot, Dhading, Surkhet, Dhankuta, Kapilvastu, Banke, Sunsari are some of the emerging districts in terms of poultry farming. “Even we are opening poultry farms in Itahari and Kohalpur, which are more feasible than Chitwan,” said Bhattarai, who is also the managing director of Pancharatna Poultry Group, one of the largest poultry farms of the country. According to Dr Bhattarai, production of broiler chicken in Chitwan has dropped to around 20 percent of the total production across the country from around 30 to 35 percent recorded a couple of years ago. The district´s contribution to total egg production has also declined to 60 percent from more than 80 percent of the total production. Dr Bhattarai also points out growing competition among poultry farmers as another reason behind the declining number of poultry farms in the district. More than 30 percent of around 600 poultry farms in the district have been closed over the last couple of years, due to their inabilities to compete with big farms.
PRABHAKAR GHIMIRE AND RAMESH KUMAR PAUDEL
Source: Republica