The poultry industry is one of the most important industries in the East part of Kurdistan due to the amount of investment and job opportunities. The industry provides domestic white meat needs as well as exports chickens and eggs, which can be an essential source of income and economic development for the country.
Sna province is one of the main provinces of the eastern part of Kurdistan in terms of chicken farming and breeding. The province has 752 active poultry units and produces more than 95000 tons of white meat annually. Only 40 percent of this amount is consumed within the province and the remaining 60 percent is exported to other provinces and the southern part of Kurdistan. This number of poultry farming units in Sna province can produce 20 million chickens per year.
There are 17 feed factories and seven poultry slaughterhouses in Sna province with a daily slaughter capacity of 18000 chickens. More than 90 percent of the province's poultry farms are now equipped with automated equipment, including automatic feeders and irrigators. Sna province ranks first among the western and northwestern provinces of Iran and ranks eighth in Iran in terms of poultry farming.
Due to increased productivity and affordable prices, chicken meat can replace primary commodities. The poultry industry is very important as a source of income and food, and it is one of the industries that provide jobs for a large number of citizens and is the only industry that has been able to survive under the difficult conditions of economic sanctions.
The estimated amount of investment in the province's poultry industry is 100000 billion Tomans ($2 billion) and has provided jobs for about 15000 people directly and indirectly. The per capita consumption of chicken meat in Sna province is 30 kg per year and the government's guaranteed purchase rules to support this industry require that the weight of chicken produced be 1 kg and 200 grams to 1 kg and 800 grams.
Ensuring food security as the most important function of this sector, can be a very valuable point of productivity and income stability of the province.
Problems of poultry farms in Sna Province
In recent years, after the impact of US sanctions on entire Iran's economy, the deteriorating economic situation, growing poverty, and unemployment, especially in the East part of Kurdistan, and the depreciation of the Iranian currency, the poultry industry has faced several problems, including:
- Increase in energy costs, prices of chicken feed, and medicines
-Increase in the final price of chicken. Continuous increases in corn and soybean prices, increased transportation costs and lack of supervision, instability of day-old chicken prices and price fluctuations, high prices of small food items, vaccines, medicines, and equipment needed for this industry, and finally lack of capital.
To solve these problems, the poultry farm owners are demanding that the government provide the necessary capital through the allocation of low-interest bank loans, deferring the arrears of farmers' loans, and taking into account the losses. They also believe that to support poultry farms, the government should prevent the market from becoming saturated with white meat so that the price does not decrease and the producer does not suffer in the meantime.
