Bird flu: Chicken sales drop 50%, egg crashes 30% in B'lore

12,000 birds found dead in Shimoga; government rules out avian flu in state

The poultry industry in Karnataka took a hit on Tuesday as the offtake of chicken fell as much as 50 per cent and prices plunged in major markets across the state after 12,000 birds were found dead in Shimoga on Monday.

The industry, which had suffered a marginal loss on Monday after the country's first outbreak of bird flu in Maharashtra, witnessed a drastic fall in demand for chicken dishes. However, the death of birds in Shimoga is not due to bird flu, said both government and industry sources.

Karnataka minister for animal husbandry V S Acharya said, "We have sent the bird samples to High Security Laboratory at Bhopal and the report is awaited. As per the initial reports the deaths in Shimoga are not linked to avian flu. It could be due to the 'Infectious Bursel Disease' (IBD) and not due to the lethal H5N1 virus. There is no need to be panic as normally avian flu does not migrate to a distant place."

Talking to Business Standard, he said the state government has alerted deputy commissioners in all the 27 districts of the state and daily reports are being collected on the situation, adding that the government has initiated all the steps to vaccinate the birds across the state.

The farm gate prices of live birds in Bangalore have fallen from Rs 35 per kg to Rs 20-22 per kg, said Nanda Kumar, chairman, Karnataka Hatcheries Association (KHA).

The demand for egg has fallen 30 per cent in the Bangalore market. Over 20 lakh eggs are left unsold per day, said B R Sainath, zonal chairman, National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC).

But egg prices have not fallen. As of today, the egg prices were ruling at Rs 1.30 per egg at the farmgate, said Ravindra Reddy, president, NECC, Bangalore.

"Our farmers, about 4,500 of them, across the state have been trained to ensure hygienic conditions in the farms and the consumers need not panic because necessary bio-security systems have been put in place," Nanda Kumar said. It is too early to comment on the impact on sales over the next few days, he added. In the shorter run, the consumption may come down, he added.

The TV news channels exaggerated the extent of India's outbreak, contributing to the decline in poultry sales, he said. The industry, however, hopes that the real picture will emerge in the next few days.