PM Dahal presses for modernising agriculture and livestock business

Kathmandu / Jan 13: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said the anachronistic thinking of the State and the contradictions in the Acts and laws were posing as a roadblock to modernisation of the industry and trade.

PM Dahal said this while inaugurating the third convention of Nepal Poultry Federation here today. He pledged that the government would now pay special attention to modernisation of the agriculture and livestock business and to its policy level reforms.

Stating what he wanted was that works should be undertaken in a result-oriented way rather than in a way of bringing ordinary improvements, he said the government was serious towards implementing its declaration of providing concession on income tax in the poultry business and construction of poultry sheds.

PM Dahal appreciated the contribution made by the poultry industry to the country’s economy despite suffering from various problems like the earthquake and the economic blockade. Other sectors should emulate the efforts made by this sector towards becoming self-reliant, he added.

Officiating Secretary at the Ministry of Livestock Development, Shyam Prasad Poudel, said the poultry industry demonstrated the example that the country could be made self-sufficient if efforts were made towards professionalism and commercialisation.

Vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Dinesh Shrestha, Krishna Adhikari from the Conferederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), and vice-president of Nepal Chamber of Commerce Gyan Ratna Tuladhar also lauded the role of the poultry industry in making the nation self-reliant and boosting its economy.

Nepal Poultry Federation president Guna Chandra Bista stated that they can provide chicken and eggs at cheaper prices to the consumers provided that the state offered the poultry farmers subsidies and brought business-friendly policies.

It was shared at the programme that the annual import of corn, soyabean and cake used to make poultry feed amounted to Rs 15 billion. Poultry industry currently makes 3.5 percent contribution to the GDP. One hundred fifty thousand people are currently employed in the poultry business.

The annual chicken production in the country stands at 107.9 million kilogrammes. The egg production is 2.2 million per month.

Poultry farners are selling chicken at Rs 180 per kg to the retailers while the consumers get it at Rs 250 per kg.

It is stated that Chitwan alone occupies 60 percent of the country’s total poultry business. RSS