Poultry industry teeters as cost of feed rises

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of small poultry businesses are on the brink of bankruptcy due to the skyrocketing prices of feed, an official said Saturday.

Sumitro, head of the city's livestock husbandry agency, said that out of 1,453 listed poultry farms -- in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi -- 70 percent to 80 percent would close down.

"The high prices have been caused by the current monetary crisis as 60 percent of feed materials depend on imports."

Sumitro told The Jakarta Post earlier that the scarcity of feed pushed up the price of a kilogram of eggs to Rp 3,700 (74 U.S. cents) at present from Rp 2,500 in August.

"Medicine is also expensive these days."

At least 16 poultry farms have closed over the past five months. Most of them were located in Cibubur, East Jakarta, and Ciganjur, South Jakarta.

Chicken farmers are being forced to sell off their chickens to get returns on their investments and buy feed for chicks.

"I was forced to sell off my 7,000 chickens for only Rp 1,700 per kilogram. I could not continue (my business) because the production costs are double the selling price," Hamdani, a former chicken farmers, said.

His poultry farm used to produce 1.2 tons of eggs per day and sell 3,000 chickens daily, he said.

Jakarta needs about 400 tons of eggs every day.

Damsiri's poultry business, located in Jagakarsa, in South Jakarta, is undergoing the same upheaval.

"We were forced to sell off chickens for Rp 2,700 per kilogram," Damsiri said. "This is crazy. We could not possibly survive this situation. I think we will have to close down this business in about four months.

"Every day we have to feed the chickens and every day the price of feed gets higher," he said, adding that feed suppliers always said that there were no stocks available.

Most of the chicken farmers in Bogor and Sukabumi have been reportedly forced to sell off their chickens for Rp 1,000 per kilogram.

Based on the agency's data, the price of fodder has risen to Rp 1,500 from Rp 1,300 per kilogram on Dec. 25.

The price of premix has jumped 53 percent to Rp 5,514 per kilogram from Rp 3,600 in January last year.

Corn cost Rp 400 last October but now sells for Rp 950 per kilogram, while fish powder increased from Rp 1,700 in August to Rp 3,000.

In a bid to prevent the crisis from worsening, the Ministry of Agriculture is scheduled to hold a special meeting Wednesday to discuss the matter.

Housewives are also complaining about the hike.

Thirty-three-year-old Retno Wahyuningsih said that, because of the high price of eggs, she had chosen not to bake too many cookies over the festive season.

"Frankly I chose to serve packaged cookies and the like... it's cheaper than if I have to make them myself," she said.

Martha E. Kusuma said that since the cost of staple foods began increasing, her Indomie stall had to set a new price for a bowl of noodles.

"Usually a portion costs only Rp 800. But now I have to raise it to Rp 1,300 or Rp 1,500 per portion," she said, adding that she had been operating the food stall in Depok for 10 years. (edt)