Pig farmer rescue campaign hits chicken breeders

A chicken farm in the southern province of Dong Nai. An ongoing campaign to rescue pig farmers from the price plunge has delivered a blow to chicken farms in Dong Nai Province - PHOTO: CT

HCMC – An ongoing campaign to rescue pig farmers from the price plunge has delivered a blow to chicken farms in Dong Nai Province, the country’s key poultry farming area.

Chicken prices have plummeted by VND10,000 to VND22,000-24,000 a kilo, causing big losses for poultry farmers. The pig farmer support endeavor has led to consumers increasing pork consumption.

A representative of Hoang Thanh Tra Co Ltd said the price of chicken at the company’s farms ranges from VND22,000 to VND24,000 per kilo this month.

The pork supply glut and the steep decline in pork prices have fueled consumption, said the representative.

Nguyen Thanh Phi Long, technical director at Long Binh Livestock Co Ltd in HCMC, said the price of white-feathered chickens has declined by VND3,000 against the previous week to VND22,000-23,000 per kilo.

Buff chickens in Dong Nai have hovered in the range of VND24,000 and VND26,000 a kilo, far below the production cost of VND33,000-35,000, according to Nguyen Kim Doan, vice chairman of the provincial Husbandry Association.

He added the province is home to 17 million chickens, with only 10% of them being white-feathered chickens.

Meanwhile, Pham Thi Ngoc Ha, director of HCMC-based San Ha Co Ltd which specializes in poultry products, said her company was still buying chickens that meet quality, and food safety and hygiene standards from farms in neighboring Long An Province at VND32,000 a kilo.

Some farmers are reeling from low poultry prices due to the low quality of their products, she noted.