Berhampur: Wile chicken is one of the cheapest sources of animal protein for common people, the demand and supply gap during the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections has led to the price of chicken shooting through the roof across retail markets in Odisha.
The poll campaign has led to considerable increase in chicken price. Traders are of the view that the cost of the chicken that has steadily been surging prior to the start of the campaign is expected to remain expensive till June first week.
During election season, candidates in the fray provided meals for thousands of the party cadre and workers in the past two months. ‘Chicken curry’ or ‘biryani’ used to be a ‘mandatory’ and demanded item in the menu almost five to six days a week.
Candidates in every constituency made sure that they served food to the party cadre and workers of their choice with rice, dal and chicken curry. Candidates had arranged makeshift kitchens almost in all the rural and urban areas.
A majority of retail outlets sold chicken at Rs 220 to 240 per kg prior to the election campaign. Now the rate goes up to Rs 300 per kg in phases. “We sold more than 400 kg of chicken to political feasts almost every day”, said the owner of a retail outlet in Berhampur with a request not to reveal his name.
Vehicles with loads of thousands of quintals of live birds from different parts of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were pouring in to Berhampur during the election campaign period, he said.
I was shocked to find chicken prices soaring all of a sudden. This time, I asked the retailer to give me smaller chunks
Broiler Association sources said that the production is generally brought down during summer.
Normally, it takes 40 days for chicks to become ready for sale. However, during summer, it would take another five to 10 days extra for the chicks to become ready for consumption. When it comes to mutton and fish, there is a fixed price in the market. But, the price of chicken keeps fluctuating due to various factors.
