impact of Covid-19 on chicken broiler farm business in Malang Regency

The contagious COVID-19 spreads rapidly worldwide. The pandemic poses risks to multiple sectors of the world economy, including the agricultural and livestock sectors. Despite the economic potential of the broiler farm business, indicated by its increasing broiler population, production, and public consumption, the large-scale social restrictions imposed by the government as an effort to mitigate the pandemic spread has decreased the demand for and supply of broiler meat. This current study is aimed at obtaining an overview of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has on the broiler farm business in Malang Regency. The data of this qualitative descriptive study were collected by means of interviews, personal documentation, and other supporting documents. Sampling was carried out using a stratified random sampling technique as the broiler population was non-homogenous and stratified.The broiler population was divided into two groups: 1) less than 5,000 heads broiler-population; and 2) more than 5,000 heads broiler-population. The study results showed that the negative impact caused by the pandemic on the broiler farm business include declines in the broiler meat selling prices, farmers’ income, and broiler population. The decline in selling prices is caused by the broiler supply demand imbalance and changes in the public consumption patterns during the pandemic, favouring food ingredients with longer durability. The farmers’ income decline occurs as a result of the dropping price of live broilers combined with the extra costs that the farmers have to spend to keep the business operating during the pandemic. Finally, the decline in broiler population takes place because of chick-in cancellation to suppress excess supply at the following harvest period. The broiler population restriction controls are conducted in order to regulate prices at the consumer level.