The COVID-19 pandemic had severely affected countless economic sectors across the world, including livestock production, with the poultry sector heavily affected by this pandemic. Twenty-five poultry farms from Rangunia Upazilla were selected to find out the extent to which the farm was affected by the COVID-19 crisis, besides some retailers were also included to get data on price fluctuations in chicken meat and eggs. The study found that the poultry sector was damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, partly as a result of the shutdown and also by rumors that poultry and their products could transmit the disease.
Poultry is one of the promising sectors for livestock, which has been greatly devastated by covid-19. Covid-19 has terribly disrupted the poultry production system and created a mismatch between demand and supply of poultry products. The devastating covid-19 resulted in about 35% drop-in commercial day-old chicks (DOC), egg and meat production in our country (Miah et al, 2020).
According to the Bangladesh Poultry Industry Center (BPICC), the total loss in the poultry sector is about 7000 crores and about 25-30% of entrepreneurs have lost their working capital due to covid-19. Of course covid-19 is not the first challenge to this growing sector, the outbreak of avian flu in 2007 had a catastrophic effect, causing the closure of more than half of all poultry farms and hatcheries in the country, and the occurrence of the disease continues. affects the farmer (Hamid et al, 2020). Systematic research with the aim of collecting information on the impact of covid-19 on poultry farming before, during and after the period of the COVID pandemic.
25 poultry farms from Rangunia Upazilla were selected for the study on impact assessment of covid-19.
Data collection
Statistical analysis
Chapter-III Results
- General description of the farm
- Common management practie in poultry farms under study
- Factors associated with socio-economic status of the farmers
- Economic analysis
- Cost Benefit Ratio
- Fluctuation in the Price of Live Chickens and Eggs over Time
Table 3.3 lists various factors related to the socio-economic situation of the farmers of Rangonia Upazilla. The average annual cost per bird for raising broilers and laying hens was BDT 913.5 and BDT 1633.5, respectively, immediately after the COVID pandemic. Cost per bird in one batch (BDT.) for annual cost per bird (BDT.) for laying chicks.
Table 3.6 shows that the average annual gross cost per animal for raising broilers and laying hens during the pandemic (February-April) is BDT 985.5 and BDT 1652.5 respectively. Gross Cost Depreciation Total Gross Cost Depreciation Total (BDT.) n cost price (BDT.) (BDT.) n cost price (BDT.). 1920, respectively immediately after the pandemic (March-May 2020), which is lower than the net cost due to the sharp drop in the price of chicken and meat due to lockdown and rumors.
Discussion
Moreover, various events such as weddings, parties, religious gatherings, election campaigns where chicken and eggs were necessary food items were banned (Amin, 2020). Consumers were reduced due to limited working hours with a high infection rate of covid-19 (Rosen, 2020). Poultry traders also reported that the gradual increase in the stringency of lockdown measures (World Health Organization, 2020b), along with the temporary closure of businesses and workplaces, had reduced consumers' income.
According to one study, about 95% of households experienced loss of income in the first two months of the pandemic, and 62% of wage earners reported lost jobs (Miah et al., 2020). Although there is a temporary positive turn in the price during the period of Ramadan and 'Eid, the ultimate loss caused a lot of damage to the poultry sector due to which the demand for chicken and eggs did not match the demand of previous years and that this disturbs the input suppliers, farmers and traders from to achieve the profit they expected (Khan, 2021). Due to the closure of many farms, disrupted production and non-availability of transport facilities, the supply and sales percentage of chickens in the market was low and it only returned to normal in June 2020 (Mahmud, 2020).
While prices may have risen in response to rising demand during this period, this does not necessarily reflect a large enough recovery in overall production and distribution from before COVID-19 (Rahman and Ruszczyk, 2020). Chicken and egg prices typically fluctuate throughout the year, so some stakeholders expected market volatility as soon as the pandemic began. The Bangladesh Poultry Industry Central Council (BPICC) reported that 50-60% of all poultry farms have temporarily closed in response to COVID-19 (Ali, 2020).
Although some broiler producers restarted farming in June (IDLC, 2020), the duration of most of these closures remains unclear, as of February 2021, 30% of broiler farms and hatcheries closed due to the pandemic in April 2020 remained . closed to date (Financial Express, 2021). For farmers, this meant that from the previous retail price of BDT 130-150 per kg broilers, the price fell below BDT 90 in March and April. This is confirmed by a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which states that around 70% of chickens are said to remain unsold (FAO, 2020)).
Consequently, about 70% of small and medium-sized broiler farms were closed by April (IDLC, 2020) and small-scale farms were badly hit. From the start of the pandemic to April, 32–35% of layer farms were completely closed (Ali, 2020) and farmers were forced to sell their laying hens as culls before the end of their laying cycle for compensate financial losses (Mahmud, 2020). The value of benefit cost ratio in my study is different from Alam, J, (1997), he found cost benefit ratio 1:1.22 for intensive farms due to dramatic change in poultry sector due to covid pandemic- 19 during my study period.
Conclusion
Limitations
Acknowledgement
Biography
