Poultry Day: Call for business-friendly policies

KATHMANDU: Entrepreneurs have stressed the need for the state to formulate appropriate policies to address the challenges faced by poultry entrepreneurs across the country.

On the occasion of the 9th National Poultry Day celebrated in Dhangadhi on Saturday entrepreneurs complained that the poultry business is in crisis due to the smuggling of eggs and chickens taking advantage of the open border between Nepal and India.

Entrepreneurs demanded that it is necessary to formulate clear policies and programs for the marketing of this business which has attracted more and more youth in recent years.

Although the government has formulated a poultry policy for the overall development of the poultry sector, it is not being implemented effectively, said Bikram Nath, president of the Poultry and Egg Producers’ Association, Kanchanpur.

“Even though we are self-sufficient in meat and eggs, we are not able to be self-sufficient in poultry feed.”

Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning Tara Lama Tamang said that it was necessary to engage in economic transformation by promoting the business and expressed the government’s commitment to help in solving the problems of poultry entrepreneurs.

Chairman of the Poultry and Egg Farmers’ Association Kailali Bhuvan Pandey said that the demand for eggs was high even though the Sudur Paschim was completely self-sufficient in broiler chickens. In the Sudur Paschim, out of the daily demand of 500,000 eggs, only 250,000 are being produced.

With the recent introduction of new technologies in poultry, the challenge is to increase consumption along with increasing production.

The business, which employs more than 150,000 people directly, accounts for 3.5 percent of the state’s gross domestic product.

The Sudur Paschim Provincial Government aims to make the province self-sufficient in milk, fish, meat and eggs. In the statistics of the Fiscal Year 2077/78, it is not seen that the supply has been able to meet the demand due to the decrease in the production of fish, meat and milk in the state.