Kerala 'chickens' out

Bird flu comes as a boon for fish traders who have raised prices by 15%

Chicken trading in Kerala has been badly hit by the recent reports of bird flu in Maharashtra. There is absolutely no demand for chicken and eggs in Kerala as most of the hotels, restaurants and night hotels, popularly known as 'Thattukada', have stopped both chicken and egg fare.

The government has already restricted the import of chicken into the state and it is allowing imports only through eight check-posts "� Manjeswar, Muthanga, Valayar, Naduppunni, Gopalapuram, Kumily, Amaravila and Aryankavu "� in order to curb the spread of avian flu. The government has even called a halt to import of manure from poultries from other states.

Kerala mainly depends on Tamil Nadu for chicken and eggs and on an average it imports 1.5 lakh chicken daily. But, the bird flu panic has resulted in the imports falling to 10,000 chicken and closure of a large number of poultry farms in the state.

The bird flu scare has come as a blessing in disguise for fish traders who have raised prices by 10-15 per cent in view of steep rise in the demand for aqua products. The middle-class feels the pinch with price of fish and other sea food prices going up in the state which is short of sea food after the tsunami disaster.

Small consolation for people as the prices of vegetables have not gone up so far. But, a wholesale trader told Business Standard that vegetable prices might go up soon.

However, the prices of other meat items like beef, mutton and pork may increase. A trader said that it would be very difficult to supply beef at the present price of Rs 70 a kg on an average. The average rate of mutton in Kerala is Rs 140 a kg and for pork it is Rs 80 a kg.

The demand for meat and eggs of other birds like duck has also dropped considerably and egg sale has dropped by 90 per cent in the state.

A hotel manager in Kochi said that he used to sell around 500-600 chicken biryanis daily earlier, but the sale has now dropped to just 10 and he is planning to stop preparing chicken biryani for the time being.

Official sources said that a medical team from the animal husbandry department would inspect 10 samples from each truck of chicken at check posts and it would be allowed for distribution only after tested positive. The officials had started inspecting chicken farms in various districts, but so far bird flu cases have not been reported in the state.