…following  rise in recent weeks
THE prices for chicken and eggs should be normalized by next month, following an increase in cost over the past few weeks.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud gave this assurance yesterday at a meeting convened with several members of the poultry industry at the ministry.
This was in response to a noticeable increase in prices in recent weeks, with the prices spiking mainly in Demerara. At present, consumers are paying $350 per pound of chicken and between $800-$900 per tray of a dozen eggs. 
“Stakeholders have assured that by September there should be a normalization of production and a stabilization of prices,” Minister Persaud said.
According to him , this projection was made after continued consultations with several poultry producers and other stakeholders.
He explained that the escalating prices are due to a ‘glut’ experienced in the market over the past few weeks, a normal phenomenon after such an occurrence.
Persaud said, “After a glut, there was a drop in output and prices went up.”
In all of this, the minister gave the assurance that everything will be done to ensure that there is an adequate supply of these products, especially chicken, available to consumers.
He also expressed the hope that local producers would not take advantage of this situation by hiking prices further, thereby exacerbating the problem.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and hope that whatever issues that exist will be corrected… the consuming public must have access to chicken and eggs,” he stressed.
Guyanese consume between 800,000 to 900,000 pounds of chicken per week, and according to Minister Persaud, this increases to 1.2M pounds during holidays and celebrations, an increase of 25 percent.
Meanwhile, Guyana Poultry Producers Association (GPPA) board member David Fernandes reiterated that poultry and egg prices will stabilize within the coming weeks.
He said, “Definitely, by September, the industry would have recovered fully in terms of supply… most of the producers said by the middle of August they should be able to supply all their regular customers with their needs.”
As for the supply of eggs on the local market, Fernandes revealed that a quantity has already been imported, and it is expected that the eggs that will help the chicken  industry to recover as well.
“You can well imagine that eggs coming into Guyana for broiler production now are eggs that will be producing birds late September, early October, so we feel quite sure we’ll be able to cater for Guyana’s needs at the end of the year, and at prices that are reasonable for the consumers,” he said.
He assured the consuming public that there will be enough chicken to meet the Christmas demand.
In addition to this, the GPPA official said the situation was worsened by the fact that some of the producers chose ocean-freight to bring in the eggs which affected hatchability; they have now reverted to air transport,which should ensure better hatchability.
On this note, Minister Persaud observed that Caribbean Airlines had indicated that they would start a freight service by the end of last month, a commitment which has been affected by the recent loss of one of their aircraft.
This delay would impact the importation of eggs by airfreight.
“With this disaster, it would disrupt our plans … we will be engaging Caribbean Airlines in dealing with this,” Persaud stated.
He declared that Government intends to continue monitoring the prices of chicken and eggs and also continue observing trends in Demerara, Essequibo and Berbice.