The poultry industry in Karnataka continues to witness losses despite the improvement in sales of chicken and eggs across the state. The total loss suffered by the industry in the state has crossed the Rs 75 crore mark following the outbreak of bird flu in Maharashtra in mid-February. |
The prices of chicken, which had dipped to as low as Rs 8 per kg towards the end of February are now hovering at Rs 20 per kg. The prices, however, had touched a high of Rs 24 per kg over the last weekend. Egg prices which had registered a sharp decline to touch 40 paise from Rs 1.35 (farm gate) are now ruling at 70 paise (farm gate). |
"We are happy that the consumer is returning to purchase chicken and eggs. This is mainly due to the various promotional campaigns organised across the state," said Nanda Kumar, chairman, Karnataka Hatcheries Association. |
While the industry is witnessing a return of the consumer, prices are not improving commensurately due to a huge inventory pileup of chicken and eggs across the state. Despite taking a production holiday of one-week from February 24 to March 2, the backlog has not been cleared. |
As of today, the industry is burdened with a backlog of about 110 lakh kgs of chicken. The state produces 10 lakh kgs of chicken and 1.2 crore eggs a day. The industry has also scaled down egg production by 10 lakh eggs a day. |
Talking to Business Standard, Nanda Kumar said, "We are happy that the prices are slowly moving up, but there is not much improvement in the offtake of chicken. As against the daily production of 10 lakh kgs of chicken, only 35-40 per cent is now being sold. We are burdened with a huge pileup." |
The industry has joined hands with various organisations to spread awareness on safety to consumers. "We have been organising poultry melas throughout the state to diffuse the bird flu scare, which has slowly started waning. But it will take another 10-15 days to restore normalcy," said Ravindra Reddy, state president, National Egg Coordination Committee. |
Meanwhile, the Karnataka Hatcheries Association has submitted a memorandum to Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy to withdraw 12.5 per cent value added tax (VAT) charged on the sale of packed chicken (both frozen and fresh) and poultry products to help the industry recover its losses, said Nanda Kumar. |
The KHA has also demanded that the state government release capital subsidy of 25 per cent of the investment (maximum Rs 25 lakh per farm) on setting up poultry farms in the state. |
"We have been demanding the release of the subsidy amount, which has been pending for 6-7 years now. The total subsidy arrears now amounts to over Rs 8 crore," he said. |