After lying low due to floods in Delhi and neighbouring states, broiler price has risen by about 20 per cent in the national capital in the past one week due to supply crunch.
Wholesale price of live weight broiler in Delhi region has increased from Rs 48 a kg to Rs 52-55 a kg in the past one week, trade sources said. Broiler is a type of chicken raised specifically for meat production.
As a result the retail price of dressed chicken has gone up from Rs 120 per kg to Rs 145 a kg now, they added.
Egg prices have also moved upward. A dozen of egg is now costing Rs 40 a dozen in comparison to Rs 31 a dozen a week earlier.
"The price will rise further with start of winter during which consumption of poultry products increases," Poultry Federation of India (PFI) spokesman Ricky Thaper told PTI.
The price rise has come after days of decline due to floods in Delhi and neighbouring Haryana, the bulk supplier to the national capital.
Due to floods the poultry farmers rushed their produce to the market which plummeted the rate.
Thaper attributed the price rise of poultry meat to dip in supply and also rise in demand in view of the coming festive season.
"Supply of chickens from Punjab to Delhi has dried because of it being diverted to Jammu & Kashmir," Thaper said.
Punjab used to supply over 25 trucks of chickens (each truck carrying around 250-300 chickens) out of daily supply of over 150 trucks in Delhi, he said.
With less supplies from Punjab, Delhi is now relying solely on arrival from Haryana, he added.
Thaper also blamed rise in prices of soyabean meal, the key ingredient in the poultry feed, due to sudden increase in export as a factor for the price spiral.
Cost of soyabean meal has risen to Rs 17,000 a tonne from Rs 16,000 a tonne due to sudden spurt in the export in the past over a week, he added.