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Ban on wedding feasts to continue

Permission to export may help ease poultry farmers' problems

AMER SIAL

ISLAMABAD: The ban on wedding feasts would continue, as the government has further extended the ordinance prohibiting wasteful expenditure on wedding feasts in January 2000, sources said here Friday.

Poultry dealers, united under the Pakistan Poultry Association have been demanding a lifting of the ban, eversince it came into force in 1997. The deposed government of Nawaz Sharif had slapped the ban on serving food in wedding ceremonies, saying the people had desired it.

However, sources pointed out that the government could not lift the ban, because people wanted it to continue. People are able to save a huge amount of money in weddings by serving guests with cold drinks or tea, instead of lavish dinner parties.

But investment in poultry sector has been severly affected. In the initial period after the promulgation of the ordinance, the sale of broiler birds plummeted. This resulted in decreased overall production of birds in the poultry farms.

PPA suggested a way out by asking for a lowering of duties on exports, as a big market exists in the Middle East and Gulf. The government of the day decided against it, as it feared that permission might result in a sky-rocketing local prices of white meat.

According to the statistical data the country during 1994-95 produced 194 million numbers of broiler birds which increased to 264 million numbers during 1997-98 but after the ban it decreased to 176.79 million numbers during 1998-99.

The number of hatcheries producing chicks between 1996-99 has remained fixed at 255, but their capacity to produce 320 million day-old chicks during 1996-97 decrease to 203 million numbers during 1998-99.

Experts have attributed the decrease in poultry production due to the closure of poultry farms. Most of the poultry farms are situated in the rural areas and their closure or below capacity production have increased joblessness in rural areas.

Allowing poultry exports from the country would help in the revival of the industry leading to more investment and jobs.