LOCAL poultry farmers are set to temporarily stop production amid the low farmgate prices of chicken and eggs even as retail prices continued to increase amid an oversupply.
According to the United Broilers and Raisers Association (UBRA) President Elias Inciong, farmgate prices of chicken have declined to P90 a kilogram while retail prices have reached up toP185 per kilogram.
“Mahina ang demand, walang pambili ang tao at ‘yung production naman, nag-normalize na mula noong tag-init, napapababa niya talaga ‘yung presyo sa farmgate,” Inciong said on Sunday, Nov. 13.
“Ang problema, hindi naman napapakinabangan ng tunay na mamimili kasi noong bumaba ‘yung farmgate namin, tumaas pa ang retail, nag-P185 (per kilogram) doon sa DA Bantay Presyo,” he added.
The latest data available from the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Bantay Presyo or price monitoring indicate that prices of chicken in Metro Manila averaged P185 per kilogram and medium-sized eggs at P7 per piece as of Friday, Nov. 11, 2022.
Inciong said that there is currently an oversupply as local production has normalized while the country has accredited the importation of 52 million kilograms of chicken now in cold storage.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that poultry production posted an annual growth of 6.4% to P63.060 billion in the third quarter of the year, with chicken production up 6.7% and chicken eggs by 6.1%.
Retailers have since increased their prices to make up for the losses amid the weak demand, which Inciong said could prompt the government to increase imports.
“Kahit pababain mo ‘yung taripa ay walang epekto sa retail masyado,” he said.
“Ano ba talaga ang direksyon natin? Kasi ang sabi ng Pangulong [Ferdinand “Bongbong”] Marcos ay bibigyan ng diin ang local production. Eh hindi pa maliwanag sa amin kung ano ang ibig sabihin noon,” he added. (GMA Integrated News)
