The bird flu-hit poultry industry has cautioned the government that the prices of poultry products would rise substantially if the poultry farmers are not provided timely assistance to restock their farms. |
In a note to the agriculture ministry, the Poultry Federation of India (PFI) has asked for a calamity relief assistance package of Rs 1,436 crore for the industry. This includes Rs 987 crore to be provided as grant and Rs 449 crore as soft loans to different segments. |
"There is likely to be a huge shortage of poultry products in the coming months because in the last two months very poor placements have taken place in the poultry farms. This will lead to very high prices in the coming months, causing hardships to consumers", the PFI has warned. |
The federation has pointed out that the recent bird flu outbreak, though confined and efficiently contained in Navapur and Jalgaon, has ruined the health of the industry. |
A large number of small poultry farmers may not be able to restart operations without financial help. |
The federation has asked for a cash relief of Rs 40 per bird as grant and Rs 15 per bird as soft loan for poultry farmers (up to 5000 birds) to enable them re-stock their egg-layer flocks. |
For re-stocking broiler farms (10000 to 15000 birds capacity), the assistance sought is Rs 30 per bird as grant and Rs 15 per bird as soft loan for a batch of up to 5,000 chicks. This assistance is suggested to be given to farmers on their next induction of replacement flocks. |
Financial assistance has also been sought for integrated poultry farms, poultry breeders and hatcheries. |
"If Rs 4,800 crore could be provided as relief for agriculturists of one region in the wake of suicides, a relief of Rs 987 crores and soft loans of Rs 449 crore for thousands of poultry farmers should not be a problem for the government", PFI president Shashi Kapur said. |
This relief would help rehabilitate the country's estimated 90,000 poultry farms, which provide livelihood support, directly or indirectly, to about 15 lakh people. |
"If poultry farmers are not given support and relief at this point of time, not only will the production of eggs and broiler meat get severely affected, seriously impacting the availability of protein-rich food for the people, but will also cause a serious setback to the agri-economy", Kapur said. |
He welcomed the compensation given by the government to the poultry farmers around Navapur and Jalgaon whose birds were culled after the emergence of the bird flu disease. The government had also announced relief measures for those farmers who had taken bank loans. |
"But the large number of small farmers who depended largely on market credit have not got any relief assistance as yet", Kapur said. |
These farmers had to either starve their birds to death or sold the broilers and eggs at extremely low prices for lack of consumer demand due to bird flu scare, he pointed out. |