Coronavirus outbreak: Poultry firms, farmers hit due to massive culling

The poultry market consumes around half of soybean and maize production in India.

India’s $14-billion (or Rs 1-trillion) poultry market has begun a massive culling exercise as consumers keep off chicken products for fear of catching coronavirus. While the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has said there is no scientific evidence to prove the virus spreads through consumption of non-vegetarian food, this has had no impact on people, executives at some of the top poultry firms said.

“It is difficult to change people’s minds. Consumption of chicken has fallen a lot. When I last checked, the price of chicken was down to half of its cost of production. It could be