Kolkata: There has been a sharp rise in retail prices of egg, fish and chicken across city markets owing to back-to-back downpours and subsequent release of barrage water, washing out fisheries, ponds and poultry farms in south Bengal. A steady rise in fuel prices has also contributed to the price rise.
Worse, prices of these protein staples are unlikely to drop during the festive time. “In fact, prices of fish may rise further if the current situations persist,” said Tarun Bera, a fishery operator in East Midnapore.
On an average, prices of fish rose by Rs 100-Rs 200 a kg. A poultry egg is now costlier by Re 1, dressed poultry chicken is now Rs 220, costlier by Rs 20-Rs 30 and may run up to Rs 250 during the festive days. “The kitchen budget has certainly gone haywire. Fish and eggs are daily essentials in any average Bengali household. The spike is going to burn bigger holes in our pockets,” said Swarup Nandi, en employee with a pharmaceutical company.
“Record rainfall, followed by release of pent-up barrage water, washed away fisheries, ponds and rivers. Therefore, supply has dipped significantly. The gap is not easy to be met with imports from neighbouring states,” said Nuruddin Shah, a wholesale trader at Baruipur.
The annual requirement of fish in Bengal 18.2 lakh tonnes. The annual production is now 18 lakh tonnes. “The daily demand for fish is around 5,192 tonnes. The supply is generally is 5,158 tonnes. But now the supply is much less. We are trying our best to take the supply to 5,041 tonnes during the festive days,” said Bengal fisheries minister Akhil Giri.
If fish farms have incurred losses, so did the poultry farms in Hooghly, Howrah and two Midnapore — four key districts that supply bulk of the city’s egg and chicken requirement. “The losses are so huge this year because of natural calamities that many of the smaller players just cannot withstand the hardship and would exit the trade forever,” said Madan Maity, secretary of Bengal Poultry Federation.
Egg price If fish farms have incurred losses, so did the poultry farms in Hooghly, Howrah and two Midnapore — four key districts that supply bulk of the city’s egg and chicken requirement. “The losses are so huge this year because of natural calamities that many of the smaller players just cannot withstand the hardship and would exit the trade forever,” said Madan Maity, secretary of Bengal Poultry Federation.
Source:thetimesofindia.com