The price of chicken continued to increase in the city and it was sold for Rs 220-250 per kilogramme on Sunday. The consumers have shown a preference for mutton and beef owing to the high prices of chicken, criticising the government for failing to control the price of chicken and depriving them of cheap sources of protein. The price of chicken has been increasing constantly for the last one month, touching the highest mark on Sunday of Rs 220 per kg with beak and Rs 245-250 per kg without the beak. The poultry sellers said that the high prices have disturbed their sales and squeezed their profit margins. They said that people were more interested in buying mutton and beef as compared to chicken. “The price of chicken has crossed the price of beef, therefore people are not interested in buying chicken and are buying beef or mutton. As a result, our sales have dropped around 40 percent in the last three weeks,” said Abid Ali, a poultry seller, adding that the profit margin was already very low for the retailers and now a decrease in the sales was having negative impact on the business. He said that the chicken farmers were earning huge profits. “The provincial government should take action against the chicken farmers or else the cartel of these farmers would deprive the consumers of chicken meat,” he said, adding that price of chicken should not be more than Rs 160-170 per kg but due to the cartel of a few people, the prices were touching Rs 250 per kg. Jameel Ahmed, a buyer at the Township bazaar, said that he was not buying chicken and opting for mutton and fish instead. “The price of mutton is Rs 400-450 per kg and fish is sold for Rs 160-250 per kg, while chicken is sold for Rs 250 per kg. Therefore, it is better to purchase mutton and fish,” he added.
