The country’s government said that poultry production has been stabilised, and prices have been cut down from the highs reached in July, when the price of poultry grew by 60% as a result of sanctions imposed by the EU.
“Prices of poultry products have also been stabilised at an acceptable level. However, in order to prevent a repeat of the recent crisis in the poultry market, we must increase production and control prices,” said Hossein Mokaddamniya, president of Iran’s National Association of Poultry Farmers.
Prices are currently 15-20% lower than mid-July and the industry hopes to increase production by 25% in the second half of the year, but experts pointed out this will depend on the availability of sufficient feed resources.
“Iran is currently producing 145,000 tonnes (t) of dead table poultry meat. Since the beginning of the year (03/20/12), the country produced more than 750,000t of these products, but by the end of the year (until 20/03/13) we aim to produce more than 1 million (t). To reach that figure we will require 3mt of feed – 60% of corn and 40% of soy,” explained Mokaddamniya.
In late July this year, poultry prices were three times higher than the level of July 2011, meaning poultry was unaffordable for the majority of Iranian citizens and sparking food riots. In response, the government enforced a ban on all scenes which showed people eating chicken on television.
“Films often show meals with people eating chickens, while some people can not afford to buy it. Films are mirrors of society now and some people saw the class distinction there and decided to arm themselves and try to take away the property of the rich people,” said Iranian police commander Ismail Ahmadi Mokaddam, at the time.