Jashore govt poultry farm has not seen profit in 62 years

The Jashore Government Poultry Breeding and Development Farm has been struggling for a long time due to a shortage of manpower and various other issues, and the institution has never turned a profit in 62 years.

The farm was set up on 27 bighas of land in 1959 in the Shankarpur area of Jashore city to alleviate poverty and meet the protein needs of the underprivileged people in the southwestern region.

In the Jashore region, the demand for poultry chicks exceeds 36 lakh per year. However, the farm has a production target of only 1.5 lakh chicks annually.

Officials at the farm said that they requested Tk27 crore from the government. If the funds are allocated, they have a plan to reorganise the farm.

According to the farm, the Fayoumi breed chick, known for its heat resistance, is in high demand in this region.

The Jashore Government Poultry Breeding and Development Farm is the only facility in the country that produces heat-resistant poultry chicks. However, it is unable to meet the demand.

Officials of the institution said that if the laying hen houses are modernised and manpower and funding are increased, production can be significantly improved.

An on-site inspection revealed that only two incubators are being used to hatch chicks, and the farm lacks the necessary equipment. There are 22 sheds for housing laying hens and roosters. Among these, 14 sheds are unfit for use. Their roofs are made of tin, and the floors are low, making it difficult to control temperature and humidity.

Even the sheds currently being used for poultry farming were not built following scientific methods. There is no automated system for cleaning waste or regulating temperature and humidity.

According to the farm, the Fayoumi breed chick is well-suited for open farming in warm climates. These chickens have higher disease resistance and require less feed.

One-day-old poultry chicks are sold at a subsidised government price of Tk15, which has created high demand. However, the production cost per chick is Tk25. Eggs are sold at Tk7.5 per piece.

From 2020 to 2024, over 500 entrepreneurs have applied for a total demand of 50 lakh chicks. Due to the farm's limited production capacity, applications are currently on hold.

Regarding this issue, Bakhtiar Hossain, deputy director of the farm and an agriculturist, said that they have approval to produce only 1.5 lakh chicks per year. Out of this, 1.25 lakh chicks must be kept for rearing at the farm's facilities in Satkhira, Chuadanga, and Jashore. This leaves only 25,000 chicks available for sale, while the annual demand exceeds 36 lakh.

Due to limited capacity, the acceptance of new chick demand applications has been halted. The government spends Tk1 crore per year on the farm, while its revenue is Tk70 lakh.

Bakhtiar Hossain said that the farm has a government budget allocation for rearing 2,500 laying hens and producing 2 lakh chicks annually. However, the facility lacks modern egg incubation equipment, and the poultry sheds and other infrastructure are extremely outdated.

"For this reason, we have requested a budget allocation of Tk27 crore. If granted, we can establish this as a modern poultry farm. Instead of the required 25 staff, only 7 employees are currently working. 18 positions have remained vacant for years, and we are barely managing operations," he said.

He further said that if the farm is fully operational, it could produce 40 lakh 32 thousand chicks annually.

A significant portion of the limited number of chicks produced at this farm reportedly ends up in the black market. There are allegations that small entrepreneurs have to buy the one-day-old chicks, priced at Tk15, for double the price.

Abidur Rahman, an entrepreneur from Jhikargacha upazila in Jashore, said, "I applied to get Fayoumi breed chicks from the government farm three years ago, but I still haven't received them. Instead, I had to buy chicks that should cost Tk15 for Tk30 to Tk35."