TN poultry industry suffers serious setback

The poultry industry, which is slowing limping back to normal, has suffered a severe blow after fresh outbreak of avian flu was reported in Maharashtra during the last few days. Shattered by falling demand for poultry products in the State, producers have lowered the prices.

The chicken trade, which had collapsed last month after the bird flu first hit the country, had slightly recovered after a series of chicken and egg melas organised by the National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) and Tamil Nadu Poultry Farmers' Association at various places in the State.

The price of the chicken had touched nearly Rs 30 a kilo. The latest outbreak of bird flu has sent the prices into a tailspin. The price, which was hovering around Rs 20 a kg, declined to Rs 15 a kg today.

The situation with regard to egg sales is no different. Farmers are forced to sell at a mere 60 paise an egg. The Namakkal zone NECC which met here on Monday fixed the price at 70 paise an egg.

"It is very unfortunate that the farmers are getting only 70 paise per egg after making so much investment. After Jalagaon reported bird flu, there is little movement in the domestic market," a poultry source told Business Standard.

Namakkal, an important poultry zone, has more than 700 farms. At present, India exports poultry products to the tune of Rs 400 crore a year. Namakkal accounted for around 60 per cent of this, said industry sources.

The statistics available show that the daily production of eggs in Namakkal is 2 crore, and almost 25 lakh eggs are being exported every day. The projected exports from Namakkal this year is worth Rs 300 crore, which includes the export of 35 lakh eggs a day to the Middle East and egg powder to European Union and Japan.