By Chantalé Fletcher
CONSUMERS may see an increase in the price of chickens at the pluck shops and supermarkets this Christmas season.
In a release on Tuesday, Couva North MP Ravi Ratiram said after talks with stakeholders in the poultry industry price will increase due to, “mounting pressure from contending market forces and pure incompetence from the Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Clarence Rambharat.”
Ratiram said, “A lack of a plan and haphazard agricultural policies by the Rowley-led Government has seen the poultry aspect of NAMDEVCO’s food basket programme being executed without any research-oriented or data-driven approach towards achieving a consistent delivery schedule.”
He said blame must be placed squarely on Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat who has direct responsibility for NAMDEVCO. “The poultry industry is the latest victim of Minister Rambharat’s ineptitude, as our poultry farmers are in no better position today than they were six years ago,” the MP said.
He said, “It is no secret that every year during the yuletide season there is an increased demand for poultry. The major wholesale suppliers aka poultry integrators would usually compensate by increasing supply. Since last year, however, external pressures such as compounding feed price increases have forced these integrators to scale back on their annual production, affecting the entire supply chain.”
Ratiram called on the minister to become serious about our local poultry sector and adopt a structured, needs-based approach for poultry farming with a view towards increasing the sector’s production side, where all farmers, both large and small will benefit.
