Tumbling prices for domestic poultry products during the last three months have left farmers in two communes in the Xuan Loc District facing big losses and mounting debts.
Tumbling prices for domestic poultry products during the last three months have left farmers in two communes in the Xuan Loc District facing big losses and mounting debts.
Farmers from the Xuan Dinh Commune said the wholesale price of chickens had crashed roughly 60 per cent, from VND47,000-50,000 ($2.60-$2.70) to VND20,000 ($1.10) a kilo.
The price of chicken had gradually fallen in many
Director Pham Van Minh said the Phu An Sinh Trading and Food Processing Company since the beginning of June had reduced the kilogramme price on four occasions, each time between VND1,000 to VND2,000.
Home-bred chickens in the supermarket cost VND32,000 ($1.70) a kilo, a reduction of VND3,000 from earlier this month and VND8,000 from last month, he said.
At the Dinh Tien Hoang Co-op Mart Supermarket in Binh Thanh District, the same variety of chickens sold for VND37,000 a kilo, VND2,000 less than a month ago.
Tam, a representative of the Xuan Dinh Commune People’s Committee, said some farmers enlarged their coops while others cleared crops so they could raise more chickens with the hope for better profits.
More than half of its roughly 2,000 households earned their living by raising chickens. Most had contracts, Tam said.
"A chicken’s production cost is about VND26,000 ($1.40) and the selling price reached VND50,000 a kilo, which was why flock numbers increased," Tam said.
He estimated about 70,000 additional chickens were being raised in the commune while in the nearby Bao Hoa Commune it was about 100,000.
Nguyen Huu Cong, a commune farmer, said he would lose VND60 million ($3,300) even if he sold his 6,000 chickens.
"I spent more than VND5 million ($277) on chicken feed everyday. I’m thinking of using wild bananas to replace the normal feed," Cong said.
Dang Quoc Khanh, a farmer in Bao Hoa Commune, spent VND2 billion ($111,000) on his first flock two months ago, but faced a big debt as none of the 50,000 birds were sold. He did not sign any business contracts.
Trader Nguyen Hong Son said he usually supplied 6,000-7,000 chickens daily , to
"The most affected are those who raised chickens without contracts as they were unlikely to sell them even if they reduced their price," said Le Thi Hiep, vice head of the Xuan Loc District People’s Committee’s agriculture office.
The domestic market was oversupplied and faced competition from cheap imported products he said. The imported product sold for VND25,000-28,000 a kilo, after a recent price drop.
Hiep said the committee was estimating the losses farmers were likely to suffer and would make a proposal to authorities to introduce proper measures.
Farmers needed specific strategies and plans to develop their businesses and compete with imported products, Hiep said.
(Source: VNS)
