Chicken limping back into menu

The poultry industry in Karnataka, which witnessed a 90 per cent dip in sales over the last 10 days, is slowly limping back to normal. This follows the confirmation that there was no incidence of bird flu in the state. The sales of chicken picked up since Wednesday and 25 per cent of the production has been sold. The state produces 10 lakh kg of chicken a day.

According to industry sources, chicken sales had dropped to as low as one lakh kg a day in the state after the news of bird flu in Nandurbar of Maharashtra last month.

Panic-stricken consumers had stayed away from markets and chicken prices dipped to as low as Rs 8 per kilo from Rs 35-40 per kg in the state. Prices, however, were ruling at Rs 15 per kg on Thursday at the major markets in Bangalore.

As on February 28, the total loss suffered by the poultry industry in the state stood at Rs 50 crore. To clear the backlog of chicken stock which had mounted to 75 lakh kg, the Karnataka Hatcheries Association (KHA) had declared a holiday for one week starting Saturday last.

"Apart from taking a holiday, we also plan to organise chicken mela in select cities in the state. We held one such mela in Bangalore and now the second mela will be held at Kanakapura on March 7. We have instructed all the producing centres in the state not to hatch chicken for one week to clear the backlog," KHA chairman Nanda Kumar told Business Standard.

The aim of organising chicken mela is to spread awareness among consumers that there is no bird flu in the state and the chicken produced in the state is safe for consumption.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has decided to create a revolving fund of Rs 35 crore for market intervention to help the sector counter the present crisis.

Announcing this in the state legislative council on Wednesday, chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said that the state government was committed to protecting the interests of poultry farmers following the fall in the prices of chicken and poultry products.

The government has sanctioned Rs 5 crore to tackle the problem, he said. He, however, rejected the opposition demand to announce a minimum support price for chicken.

The government had sent 945 samples to different virology centres across the country to test for the dreaded H5N1 virus which is the causative agent of bird flu. The 745 samples tested were found to be negative. The results of the remaining samples are awaited, state animal husbandry and medical education minister V S Acharya said.

The state had urged the Centre to provide 42 lakh vaccines and the Centre had promised to provide it whenever required, he said in the assembly.

Acharya said that the government has taken all necessary measures to protect the interests of over 15 lakh people engaged in the industry in the state. The industry has an annual turnover that is estimated to be over Rs 1,900 crore.

Reiterating that there was no detection of bird flu cases in the state, he said that the government has set up emergency cells at seven border districts to deal with the situation. The supply of chicken and its products to the neighbouring states of Goa and Kerala also recommenced on Thursday, following discussions with the governments there.