KARACHI: The first shipment of Chinese broiler eggs has landed in Pakistan, marking a new chapter in the country’s efforts to meet the growing demand for poultry products.
The inaugural shipment of Chinese homegrown white broiler eggs has been successfully exported to Pakistan via a flight from Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, marking a significant development in the agricultural trade relations between the two countries.
In the cargo hold of the plane were special “guests” – 172,800 “Guangming No 2” White Feathered Broiler eggs from China. The shipment, all domestically bred by Foshan Gaoming District Xinguang Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Co Ltd and the Beijing Institute of Animal Science of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, marks the first time China has exported its breed of poultry to Pakistan.
The eggs, imported to bolster local poultry production, come at a time when the industry is grappling with supply shortages and rising costs.
The decision to import broiler eggs from China was made in response to the increasing consumption of poultry in Pakistan, driven by population growth and changing dietary preferences.
The local poultry industry has been under pressure to keep up with the surging demand, especially after recent challenges such as feed shortages and disease outbreaks that affected production.
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Industry experts believe that the import of Chinese broiler eggs could help stabilize the market by ensuring a steady supply of chicken in the coming months.
The eggs will be distributed to various hatcheries across the country, where they will be incubated and raised to meet the needs of the domestic market.
The China Economic Net learned that the “Guangming No 2” White Feather Broiler weighs more than 3kg at 42 days of age and has a feed-to-weight ratio of 1.32-1.5:1. Moreover, they have significant advantages such as rapid growth and a high survival rate. The 172,800 hatching eggs exported to Pakistan could provide more than 50,000 sets of “Guangming No 2” parent broilers after 21 days of incubation. Before long, they could produce more than 7 million commercial broilers, which translates to over 21,000 tonnes of chicken.
Today, Pakistan faces the same dilemma that China once faced. Statistics show that there are only about half a dozen companies in Pakistan that import all of the grandparent stock in the country. GPs are the birds that produce the parent stock, which in turn produce broilers for mass consumption.