JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE & SOCIAL SCIENCES 1813–2235/2005/01–4–327–331 http://www.ijabjass.org Marketing of Commercial Poultry in Faisalabad City (Pakistan) ASIF MAQBOOL, KHUDA BAKHSH 1 , ISHTIAQ HASSAN†, MUHAMMAD WAQAS ALAM CHATTHA‡ AND ABID SHOHAB AHMAD¶ Department of Development Economics and Environmental and Resource Economics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad–38040, Pakistan †Adaptive Research, Government of Punjab, Pakistan ‡Agricultural Field Officer, Habib Bank (Pvt.) Limited, Faisalabad–Pakistan ¶Agricultural Analyst, National Commodity Exchange (Pvt.) Limited, Karachi–Pakistan 1 Corresponding author’s e-mail: kbmultan@hotmail.com ABSTRACT This study has been conducted to discuss the present marketing system of poultry, poultry meat and eggs, its costs, margins and profits and finally problems and potential solutions in Faisalabad city. For the purpose of this study, primary data was collected from different stakeholders by using personal interview technique. Results of the study show that marketing system of poultry is traditional in nature. On an average, the profit margin in case of the commission agents was Rs.257.13 per 40 kg whereas in case of retailer, the profit margin was Rs145.2 per 40 kg .The profit margin in case of eggs was 42.06% in case of salesmen, 33.07% in case of wholesalers and 48.5% in case of retailers. Marketing costs incurred by the commission agents was Rs.12.87 per 40 kg. It was also found that middlemen were exploiting poultry producers by exhorting a large portion of consumer’s rupee. Therefore, producers were not getting remuneration according to the value of their products. Minimizing role of middlemen, providing marketing information to producers, strengthening marketing infrastructure and facilitating producers with easy access to veterinary services are the important steps that should be taken immediately by policy makers and other concerned bodies to boost up poultry farming in Pakistan. Key Words: Poultry and its products; Marketing; Margins; Cost; Constraints; Faisalabad INTRODUCTION A balanced diet is essential for good health, vigour and productive capacity of the people. Protein plays an important role in the formation of balanced human diet. There are mainly two origins of proteins i.e. animal and plant. The human diet in Pakistan is deficient with respect to proteins of animal origin. At present 66% Pakistani are deficient in protein. The requirement of protein is 102.7 g per head per day while available protein for consumption is 69.61 g per head per day. The gap in requirement of protein is 33.09 g per head per day. The main source of animal protein in Pakistan is beef, mutton, milk, poultry meat and eggs, respectively (Government of Pakistan, 2003). In Pakistan where the population is growing at a faster rate, the gap in production of food especially of animal origin is widening year after year. In the wake of animal health standards, the problem of an acute animal source protein shortage seems still more grave and distressing especially when it is compared with the protein intake of various developed countries like U.S.A., Canada, Germany, France, Japan and UK, where consumption of protein is 79- 95 g per capita per day in their daily diet and of which 46-65 g is protein of vegetable origin and the rest of animal origin (FAO, 1998). The food and nutrition dilemma demands a special attention to overcome the existing deficiencies in the food and nutritional needs of the population, with particular reference to protein deficiency and its availability from animal source. Out of various sources to overcome the animal protein gap, poultry meat seems to offer much better prospect in this respect. It is capable of providing protein in terms of quality and quantity and can narrow down the animal protein supply gap in minimum possible time as compared to other sources of animal protein. Poultry has still remained a neglected and unimportant sideline of our agricultural industry. Productivity of local birds in terms of eggs or returns has been low and is not considered it as a paying enterprise. Principally it is raised as stray birds on which particularly no cash outlay has been involved. Until 1964 poultry production was a cottage industry in Pakistan. The management and production on modern scientific lines was not known and disease control measures were also not sufficient. In 1964, the foundation of commercial poultry production was laid by Pakistan International Airline (PIA) shaver by introducing new and improved breeds of layers and broilers and by Lever Brothers with the production of poultry feed on modern lines. The Government on her part, exempted this industry from income tax and sales tax, allowed export of table eggs, day old chicks and broiler on subsidized rates. However, along with this expansion, the poultry raisers cry for low economic return for their poultry products and consumers in streets cry for high cost of poultry products which is considered due to high marketing margin in this industry. The poultry industry faces problems like the incidence of diseases, substandard and costly feed and inefficient marketing system. In all stages of