| "We will not produce any chicken for a week. We have instructed all the production centres in the state not to hatch chicken for a week to clear the back log," Nanda Kumar, KHA chairman said. Over the last five days, the poultry industry has piled up a huge inventory of over 11 lakh birds. |
| The poultry industry in Karnataka, whose losses from a lack of sales crossed Rs 50 crore on Friday, will launch a massive campaign from Saturday (today) to convince consumers that birds in the state have not been affected by the avian flu and are safe for consumption. |
| KHA plans to put up a banner in all chicken shops and slaughter houses across the state to create awareness among the public. |
| "The situation in the state is worsening every day. Not only are our farmers suffering, shopkeepers are also facing the impact of falling prices and the drop in consumption. To help revive the market, we plan to spread awareness among the consuming public that the chicken is safe in the state," said Nanda Kumar. |
| The state industry continued to suffer losses as sales have dropped to below 20 per cent and prices have fallen to as low as Rs 12-15 per kg from Rs 35 per kg over the last weekend. |
| The offtake of live birds in Bangalore has declined by 80 per cent to touch below 15,000 from as high as 70,000 per day. |
| Meanwhile, the Karnataka health and family welfare and the animal husbandry departments have clarified that there are no instances of avian flu reported either in humans or birds in the state. |
| However, as a precautionary measure, the departments have sent 178 fecal, nasal swab and blood serum samples of birds to the High Security Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Bhopal. |
| The officials from the animal husbandry department visited 375 private poultry farms on Thursday to ensure that hygienic practices were in place. It has also created 11 checkposts in the border areas to prevent the filtering in of poultry products from neighbouring states. |
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