The head of the Peasants’ Syndicate in Egypt, Hussein Abdel Rahman Abu Saddam, has revealed details of the poultry crisis that Egypt is experiencing and the likelihood that it will escalate into a food disaster.
Abu Saddam clarified in a RT commentary on the poultry crisis faced by Egypt due to rising prices that Egypt is self-sufficient in poultry production, noting that Egypt’s commercial poultry production exceeds 2.2 million birds every day, equivalent to 1.4 billion. birds every year, in addition to producing houses in the Egyptian village.
He noted that the increase in poultry prices is a temporary crisis, and everything is fine with the poultry industry in Egypt, since Egypt has the infrastructure of poultry farms, which can change the situation within a maximum of 40 days.
Abu Saddam added that the real reasons for the increase in poultry prices are due to:
A large number of small-scale poultry farmers have exited the breeding system during the last period due to the feed shortage crisis and high feed prices, and although the volumes that have been released to meet the need for feed are large, the production cycle has been shortened. does not meet the high demand for it with the confusion of buying and selling between farmers and traders, so the price of a ton of fattening feed has reached about 22,000 pounds, and the poultry industry needs more than 900,000 tons of feed every month.
And the Farmers’ Syndicate continued: “The rise in the price of chickens has exacerbated the crisis, as after the culling crisis the price of a chicken reached £15, and the owners of the unloading laboratories stopped work for several days.”
While many owners of poultry farms sold laying hens during the crisis period.
Abu Saddam confirmed that prices for white poultry in some places reached 65 pounds per kilogram, with feed prices rising after the increase in dollar prices, while most alternative chicken foods that provide the human body with protein, whether plant-based or animal products, so the demand for poultry has increased due to lack of supply, so prices have risen.
He noted that the poultry crisis came at the iftar of Christian brothers who eat meat for breakfast due to the cold and New Year holidays, and this whole climate contributes to an increase in the consumption of poultry meat.
At the end, Abu Saddam emphasized that merchants and intermediaries play an important role in promoting price gouging in light of Egyptian customs and traditions that prefer to trade in live chickens, which increases the costs of their transportation and, therefore, raises their prices. .
For its part, the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation stated that it pays great attention to social protection programs through a set of projects to support small farmers and women in villages and rural areas, as part of the state’s interest in social protection. programs for those most in need.
And the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed in a statement released on Friday that a poultry complex has been set up, which includes two sections for laying hens from Fayumi chickens, producing about 750,000 eggs per year, and two sections for broiler chickens, allowing the production of about fifty tons. eggs. poultry meat annually.
She added that for the cultivation of vegetables, including tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, zucchini, melons and watermelons, fifty greenhouses have been created, which annually produce more than 120 tons of vegetables, as well as a workshop for drying and packaging medicinal and aromatic plants, in which includes a solar dryer and machines for the production of tea bags, as well as Moringa bags and bags.
A date palm farm was also established, with five acres planted with high quality Al Majdul, Al Barha, Al Khalas, Al Qandila and Al Sakuti palms.
And she added that, in collaboration with the International Center for Indigenous Agriculture in Dubai, salt-tolerant plants have been grown on well water and on water obtained from water replacement at fish farms, such as salicornia and barley, which are salinity-tolerant.
Source: RT
