Poultry farmers in Mahai-cony in Region Five are pleading with the Ministry of Agriculture to intervene to stem the importation/ smuggling of chicken into Guyana which they say is resulting in reduced sales for them in the local markets.
The Sunday Stabroek spoke to two of the farmers on Friday and they stated that it has been difficult for them to compete with businesses which have been importing and smuggling their poultry from neighbouring Brazil.
According to Mark Ross, who has been a poultry farmer for many years, persons are mostly rushing to purchase the imported chicken since it is being sold at a lower price compared to the locally reared variety. He explained that they cannot decrease their prices to match the imported ones since rearing poultry locally is comparatively expensive.
