Bhubaneswar: As many people shun non-vegetarian food in the holy month of Shravan, prices of chicken and fish have dipped by 20% to 30% in the last one week. “Price of dressed chicken has come down to Rs 200 a kg from Rs 240 a kg since last week. Live chicken that was sold at Rs 150 a kg is now being sold at Rs 130 to Rs 120 a kg,” said Prakash Patra, a chicken and egg seller in Nayapalli.
He said poultry farmers are sustaining losses too. They used to get Rs 110 a kg for the birds but now they get only Rs 85 to Rs 93 per kg for live birds. According to vendors, though there is dip in demand of non-vegetarian food items in Shravan and Kartik months, this year the impact is more. “Vendors are not bringing fresh stuff as sales have dipped. Earlier. I used to sell at least 30kg of fish every day, which has now come down to 5 to 8 kg. The quality of fish in monsoon has also deteriorated, leading to drop in demand,” said Sanatan Behera, a fish vendor.
On the other hand, soaring prices of vegetables has irked customers. “With prices of vegetables going north, it has become difficult to manage the family budget,” said Sasmita Sahu, a homemaker.

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