To meet the local demand and help cut down the import of pork and chicken from India, piggery and poultry farm owners started production in Pema Gatshel. However, due to a mismatch of pricing between the farm owners and the meat vendors in the district, farm owners have been facing difficulty in selling meat for more than a year now.
According to meat vendors in the district, they prefer importing meat from the neighbouring state as it’s cheaper. And this has left the piggery and poultry farm owners in the district without a market. To iron out the issue, a consultation meeting was held recently.
“If possible, it would be good if the gewog allocates some funds. This will greatly help the meat producers and promote their farms,” said Kinley Dorji, Norbugang Gup.
“As poultry farm owners, we work hard to meet the demand but in the end we get nothing. We aren’t able to market. There’s a gap. It would be better if there are certain policies in place to help the poultry farmers market their produce in the country,” said Phuntsho T Namgay, a poultry farm owner.
“We are looking into addressing the market issues regarding the meat production and meat production value chain. The producer wants to get higher prices, while the vendors are looking to purchase at lower rates. This leads to the marketing issue, especially in terms of pork production,” said Yonten Dorji, Livestock Production Officer.
The meeting decided on an agreeable price for both parties. A kilogram of pork will now cost Nu 400 while a kilogram of chicken will cost Nu 300. There are nearly 25 poultry and piggery farms in the district.
According to Bhutan Trade Statistics 2022, the country imported meat items worth Nu 3.6bn.
Thinley Dorji, Pema Gatshel
Edited by Sonam Pem
