Poultry industry still under the grip of bird flu

Losses cross Rs 150 cr mark in Karnataka; govt yet to consider any help

Though the state is yet to witness the first case of bird flu, the poultry industry continues to be in the grips of the fear of bird flu. The industry's losses have crossed the Rs 150 crore mark since the bird flu case was reported in Maharashtra, as consumers are refusing to return to the market in sufficient numbers.

According to sources, the poultry industry is not able to convince the buyer to return to the markets and the backlog is mounting every day. As of Tuesday, chicken sales have risen to 50-55 per cent of the total production in the state. As against the daily production of about 10 lakh kgs of chicken in Karnataka, nearly 4.5 lakh kgs of chicken is left unsold.

"The farmers are neither able to stop the production fully nor sell their produce fully and are slowly falling into debt," said Nanda Kumar, chairman, Karnataka Hatcheries Association (KHA).

The prices of chicken have not improved much and they are presently Rs 16-18 per kg in most markets. The situation with egg sales is no different. Eggs are being sold at 45-50 paise (farm gate), while the optimum rate was Rs 1.30. Retail price is hovering at Rs 1.25 per egg, against the optimum price of Rs 1.70. Karnataka produces an average of 1.25 crore eggs a day and the present daily sales are around 40-50 per cent of this.

"It is very difficult for the farmer to even reduce the production and the losses are mounting day by day," said Sainath, National Egg Coordination Committee chairman for Karnataka.

He said that the farmer is losing an average 80 paise per egg everyday. "We are unable to convince the consumer to consume even after conducting free egg and chicken melas in select cities in the state," he said.

Free chicken and egg melas have been conducted in Bangalore, Hubli, Davanagere, Mysore and Kanakapura. In each of these cities more than 25,000 people were given free chicken and eggs to convince them that consuming the stuff is safe, he said.

Meanwhile, the state government has refused to announce a minimum support price (MSP) for poultry products in the state.

As against the assurance given by state minister for animal husbandry V S Acharya to release Rs 5 crore as interim relief for the poultry industry, only Rs 50 lakh has been sanctioned.

"The government is not ready to declare any MSP for poultry products at this stage because there is no real occurrence of bird flu anywhere in the state. Government officials have told us that there will be no such measure unless bird flu is confirmed in the state," said Sainath.