Damascus-Sana
In recent months, the poultry sector in Syria has suffered many setbacks that have contributed to the exit of many breeders from the production process, which created a productive gap in the market and led to a successive rise in the prices of its products, which directed the compass of government interest to stop the depletion of this sector and restore life to it through a series of urgent measures. Taken by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Eng. Ahmed Qadish, told SANA that the deterioration of the poultry sector came because of the reliance on imported feed, whose prices rose due to the unilateral coercive measures imposed on Syria, with the lack of alternatives in sufficient quantities, indicating that an integrated program will be adopted to develop the poultry sector in all its stages and secure supplies Production and marketing.
Qadish pointed out that the lack of pricing and integration between the production and marketing rings helped to exacerbate the problem and decrease the produced quantities available in the market, and this was accompanied by the high costs of production and products, so several poultry farms went out of work as a result of losses and the irregularity of breeding mothers to produce the chicks needed to raise broilers.
The Ministry of Agriculture has developed “an immediate and urgent action plan to address the existing reality with the aim of putting egg and chicken meat products on the market at reasonable prices in the foreseeable future and preparing a census program capable of periodically monitoring the number of grandmothers, mothers and chicks to be a tool for periodic evaluation,” said Kadesh, Director General of the General Poultry Corporation, Engineer Seraj. Khader indicated that the corporation is working to launch a policy of feed alternatives that can be used in poultry raising according to the results of using alternative feed mixtures for some components of imported feed, which leads to a reduction in the value of feed from 20 to 25 percent and is positively reflected in a decrease in the prices of products by about 15 percent. The production capacity of the poultry facilities ready for investment is one hundred percent to maintain its production and marketing position despite the damage caused by terrorism to the poultry sector and to continue to intervene positively in the market, provided that the necessary fodder is provided through an agreement within a specific timeframe with the General Fodder Corporation to secure 25 thousand tons From yellow corn.
The Director of Animal Production at the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Osama Hammoud, stated that there is an evaluation process for the work of the committees in charge of supervising the poultry sector and organizing their work to be effective on the ground, stressing the need to revive rural poultry raising that was an integral part of the components of rural homes.
Ahmed Al-Khatib, one of the importers of chicken grandmothers, called for organizing their import as the main nucleus of breeding, by concluding an agreement between importers under the supervision of the ministry to ensure that producers and breeders are supplied with mothers and breeding chicks on an ongoing basis.
The Director of Animal Health at the Ministry, Dr. Hussein Al-Sulaiman announced that the process of organizing the marketing of products is currently focused on central coordination that takes into account the actual cost of production and the trend towards providing requirements for the rehabilitation and operation of modern technical slaughterhouses that include production, marketing and frozen storage in periods of surplus production, pointing out that most of them have stopped working As a result of the irregularity of production and its incompatibility with the capacity of the slaughterhouses, in addition to the high capital required for operation and frozen storage.
Dr. Ziyad Nammour, Director of Veterinary Medicines, explained that periodic meetings are held to discuss the difficulties facing poultry farming to face the unjust sanctions imposed on Syria, which have a great impact on securing the raw materials needed for the manufacture of veterinary medicines and vaccines and securing the necessary coal for heating.
Hikmat Haddad, one of the broiler breeders, saw the necessity of concerted efforts that stem from the interest of the producer and the citizen, paying attention to small breeders who have an important role in production, and focusing on the cooperative sector through which it is possible to reach the development of production and reduce costs.
The concerned persons in the Ministry of Agriculture discussed during a specialized meeting held recently the current reality of the poultry sector, identifying the points of defects, problems and difficulties that led to the increase in the prices of its meat and egg products. Public and private committees were assigned to organize production and marketing and reduce the disparity in production during the year and that the public interest is the highest in front of interests. Own.
The meeting discussed achieving relative stability in production throughout the year, achieving a balance between supply and demand, and ensuring the rights of producers to achieve specific profit margins.
Ghossoub Abboud - Bushra Barhoum