Lm12.5m in assistance for poultry breeders in 12 years

Poultry breeders are to benefit from Lm12.5 million in assistance over a 12-year period between this year and 2013, Agriculture Minister Ninu Zammit said yesterday.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of the Poultry Breeders Cooperative, the minister said this assistance was to be divided in Lm5.7 million for the production of broilers and Lm6.8 million for the production of eggs.

The minister said there were at present 441 registered farms for the production of poultry and eggs, of which 98 were in Gozo. These produced some 5.6 million broilers and 104 million eggs a year.

Mr Zammit said the levy on these products started being reduced at the beginning of the month and producers started being given assistance of 6c4 per dozen eggs and three cents for every kilo of broilers.

Through this assistance, the price of a dozen eggs had dropped by five cents and that of whole broilers by two cents per kilo. The rest of the assistance was aimed at restructuring the sector.

Mr Zammit said that as from the beginning of next year, this assistance was to go up to 12c8 for every dozen eggs and to seven cents per kilo for broilers.

As a result, prices would have dropped by 10c per dozen eggs and four cents per kilo of broilers when compared to prices last June.

The minister stressed the need for poultry breeders and egg producers to restructure their operations and improve efficiency to become more competitive. He also called for more cleanliness and hygiene.

The minister said some farms required alterations and modernisation and he said that a committee was recently set up by the Planning and Environment Authority to hasten the processing of applications for agricultural development.