Sri Lanka’s poultry producers to start exports

Sri Lanka’s poultry producers are eying export markets as the production is expected to rise significantly surpassing the local demand, industry sources said.

There is a heavy demand for chicken meat in the Middle East and therefore Sri Lankan government should provide incentives for poultry producers to export their products to earn much needed foreign exchange for the country, Yakooth Naleem, Managing Directr of Bairaha Farms Plc who is also the joint coordinator of the Poultry Producers Forum told Business Times.

He noted that Sri Lanka has the capacity to export at least 300,000 kg or 300 Metric Tons (MT) of chicken meat monthly as the industry is producing a surplus. Mr. Yakooth revealed that his firm has already established contacts with several Middle Eastern buyers who are ready to place purchasing orders. However he noted that poultry producers have to pay VAT, NBT and income tax excluding other duties and indirect taxes, in particular tax (CESS) on maize and other consumables, which are also substantial in amount. The industry is paying Rs.6 billion per year as VAT alone to the Treasury and the government should provide some concessions to producers who have to purchase all raw material including maize locally paying comparatively high prices.

At present an average of 10,000 MT of chicken meat and 100 million eggs are being produced monthly and per capita consumption is 6kg However presently poultry industry is exporting parent breeder chicks, table eggs and hatching eggs(to produce broiler chicks) at marginal prices and if the industry is to develop sustainable export markets specially for chicken then some support is needed from the government to compensate the producers for incurring high cost in rearing and processing chicken due to high input cost including high cost of inputs for poultry feed, electricity and so on. .

The Government has allocated Rs 90 million to provide self employment assistance to small and medium scale poultry farmers in order to make the industry self sufficient in 2016. Some 4,500 new small scale poultry farms, 75 Mini Hatcheries and 100 Mini Processing Units will be set up to boost the industry.

Meanwhile the economic Development Ministry has announced that the Divi Neguma National Programme to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in chicken eggs by 2014 is now nearing success and the government will take steps to stop chicken egg imports by the end of next year.

But poultry producers said that Sri Lanka is not importing eggs as the production is more than sufficient to meet the demand.

Poultry production is a successful self-employment project that generates speedy returns and also creates jobs. An entrepreneur with a minimum investment can set up a thriving poultry farm within a short period.