Once, mornings in Bhuapur upazila of Tangail began with the crowing of chickens and the rattling of vans loaded with trays of eggs.
Today that scene has largely faded. Many poultry sheds still stand with their tin roofs intact, but the cages inside are empty.
Farmers who continue production say they recalculate their losses every day, uncertain whether they will end the day in the red again.
At the centre of this crisis are small and marginal farmers, who produce a large share of the country’s eggs. Yet much of the profit from the price consumers pay in markets rarely reaches the producers themselves.
Poultry farmers in Bhuapur estimate that producing a single egg costs between Tk7 and Tk8, but they are often forced to sell eggs at Tk5.50 to Tk6.50. By the time those eggs reach retail shops in Dhaka, the price rises to around Tk10 each.
Farmers say the situation leaves producers absorbing losses while margins accumulate across the supply chain.
Poultry hub shrinking
Bhuapur was once one of Tangail’s major poultry-producing areas.
At its peak, the upazila had nearly eight lakh chickens. That number has now dropped to around 3.5 lakh as many small and marginal farmers have exited the sector.
The number of active poultry farmers has also fallen sharply. Of about 65 farmers who once operated in Bhuapur, only 13 remain today, leaving many sheds abandoned.
Khandakar Jahangir Alam started his poultry farm in 2000 with only 500 chickens. Gradually, with steady profits, he expanded the business to about 9,000 chickens by 2007-08.
Today his farm houses around 15,000 chickens, with a total investment of nearly Tk1.25 crore, including more than Tk15 lakh in loans.
But the business has become increasingly uncertain.
“We are not asking for subsidies,” he said. “We only want a fair price. If the price reflects the cost of production, farmers can survive.”
Rising production costs
A layer hen consumes about 120 grams of feed per day. With feed prices now ranging between Tk2,600 and Tk2,750 per 50-kg bag, feed alone costs around Tk6 to Tk7 per chicken daily.
When medicines, labour, electricity and other expenses are added, the total production cost per egg rises to around Tk7 to Tk8.
Jahangir Alam said feeding 1,000 chickens now costs more than Tk6,300 a day, while other expenses amount to roughly Tk700. Yet income from selling eggs often remains around Tk5,000 per day.
“We lose money every day,” he said.
Price increases along the supply chain
In Bhuapur, farm-gate prices range between Tk5.50 and Tk6.50 for red eggs and Tk5.10 to Tk5.60 for white eggs.
Transporting eggs to Dhaka costs about nine paisa per egg. In wholesale markets the price rises to Tk8 to Tk9, while consumers pay around Tk10 in retail shops.
Margins are added at different stages by transporters, wholesalers and retailers. Transporters typically earn Tk1 to Tk2 per egg, wholesalers add about 50 paisa to Tk1, and retailers generally keep about Tk1 per egg.
Traders say these margins reflect risks such as breakage, spoilage and price fluctuations.
Disease and financial losses
Disease outbreaks remain another major challenge for farmers.
Khairul Alam, a farmer in the Gobindashi market area of Bhuapur, recently lost nearly 2,000 chickens to bird flu within a week from his farm of 3,300 birds, resulting in an estimated loss of around Tk15 lakh.
“The price of feed has doubled and disease risks are constant,” he said. “There is no real protection for farmers.”
Raising day-old chicks requires about 18 weeks before egg production begins, meaning farmers’ capital remains tied up for months. If prices fall during that period, recovering the investment becomes extremely difficult.
Debt burden on small farmers
Another farmer, 42-year-old Robiul Islam Chokdar of Sthalkashi village, invested Tk12 lakh nearly two decades ago to start a poultry farm with around 1,000 chickens and four workers.
For several years the business ran well, but rising feed costs and falling farm-gate prices gradually pushed him into heavy losses. To keep the farm running, he borrowed nearly Tk85 lakh from banks and informal lenders. Eventually he was forced to shut down the farm and sell part of his homestead land to repay the debts.
Now he works as a construction supervisor for daily wages.
“Once I had workers on my farm,” he said. “Now I work on other people’s construction sites while still carrying the debt from poultry farming.”
Limited access to affordable loans
Small farmers say access to bank loans remains limited.
Many rely on NGOs, cooperatives or informal lenders, often under strict repayment conditions and high interest rates.
A senior official of a state-owned bank said small farmers often lack sufficient documentation and collateral, making lending riskier compared with large corporate farms.
Economists say the poultry sector lacks mechanisms to stabilise prices and protect marginal producers.
Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said marginal farmers face both production and market risks.
“Both production risk and market risk fall heavily on marginal farmers. Targeted credit support and greater market transparency are essential,” he said.
Experts suggest introducing farm-gate price support, strengthening direct links between farmers and retail markets and improving monitoring of feed markets, which account for the largest share of production costs.
Sector at a crossroads
Bangladesh’s poultry sector, valued at around Tk50,000 crore, provides one of the country’s most affordable sources of animal protein and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs.
However, continued losses are forcing many small farmers out of the business.
Agricultural economist Jahangir Alam Khan said competition between large corporate farms and small producers has become increasingly uneven, as large companies benefit from economies of scale and lower production costs.
If marginal farmers continue to exit the sector, analysts warn the market could gradually be dominated by a few large producers – a shift that could ultimately affect consumers.
Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association (BPIA) President Mosharraf Hossain Chowdhury said the country’s poultry sector has long depended on the hard work of marginal farmers, who helped keep eggs and chicken affordable for consumers.
He warned that if small farmers cannot survive, the industry could fall into crisis and become dominated by a handful of large corporate companies. “If that happens, consumers will eventually have to buy eggs and chicken at prices set by those companies,” he said.
Chowdhury urged the government to prioritise poultry farmers in the distribution of farmer cards, provide low-interest loans and subsidies, and improve market management so small producers receive fair prices.
He also called for tax and VAT exemptions for marginal farmers, stricter action against middlemen and extortion in the supply chain, electricity subsidies for small farms and dedicated sales points in markets and wholesale hubs to help small producers compete with large corporate farms.
Mohammad Alamgir Hossain Swapan, joint general secretary of the Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association, said farmers are not seeking loan waivers.
“What farmers need is access to loans on easy terms, with interest rates of only four to five percent, so they can continue production within their means,” he said.
Govt response
Dr Md Boyzar Rahman, director (administration) at the Department of Livestock Services, said the government has instructed field officials to prepare lists of marginal poultry farmers and the process is currently underway.
He added that authorities must also examine how farmers have used the loans they obtained.
“If loans taken for one purpose are used for another, the government cannot take responsibility for that,” he said.
Source: Daily Sun
Bd-pratidin English/ ANI
