By Our Correspondent
Bharatpur, Apr. 7: The hatchery industry, which produces chicken fowls, has been directly affected by the unannounced load shedding in the industry.
The production of chicken fowls has declined by half due to the load-shedding and price hikes of petroleum products, said entrepreneurs.

The DP Hatchery Industry located at Rambag in Bharatpur has the capacity to produce up to 40,000 chicks per week under normal conditions. But now, the hatchery has not been able to produce even 5,000 chicks a week, said Hatchery operator Murari Sapkota. Sapkota said that electricity or a generator is needed to provide the required temperature for hatching chicks from eggs.
"It is not known when the electricity will come and go. We have to use the generator after keeping the chicks,” he said. "In such a complex situation, the challenge is how to keep the hatchery industry running smoothly.”

The power outage in the industry for up to 14 hours daily has a direct impact on the hatchery industry.
According to Tikaram Pokhrel, former president of the Nepal Hatchery Industries Association and vice president of the Nepal Poultry Entrepreneurs' Forum, production in hatchery industries across the country is declining.

"More than 300 hatchery industries across the country normally produce 150,000 layers and 3 million broiler chicks a week, but now production is less than half," he said.
Gyan Bahadur Bisural, the outgoing president of the association's Bagmati Province, complained that the hatchery industries have to run through the most complicated situation so far.
"As the hatchery industry, which produces chicks, has a problem, it is important to assess the impact on the production of poultry meat and eggs, which have just become self-sufficient," he said. The hatchery industry, which has been running at a loss for the past three years due to high raw material prices, has hit the hard from present load-shedding and rising prices of petroleum products, he said.

"If this situation continues, the cost of chicken production will increase and farmers will not be able to buy chicks," he said.
Chicks used to be sold for Rs. 20 to 25 a few years ago. But now even selling chicks at Rs. 70 has not been able to cover the cost price of production, said Bisural.
For this, there is a demand from the businessmen to regularise the power supply first.

Rajendra Poudel, an engineer at the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Bharatpur, said that the current fluctuation in power supply is due to lack of generation. "Even in the winter season, the production of electricity is low, but now there is a problem with the increase in demand for electricity," he said.

"The NEA has been forced to cut power supply due to the fact that India did not provide power to us even though it was said to be provided at Rs. 38 per unit."
He said that even under normal conditions, there would be 6-7 hours daily power cuts in the industrial feeders. "Even though the process of purchasing power from India is easy, we cannot supply regular power to industrial feeders. NEA is trying to reduce power outage from 14 hours to six to seven hours daily,” he said.