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Barwala, some 40 km west of Chandigarh, is home to nearly 200 poultry farms. In the last few years, poultry farms have proliferated (as this business is exempted from VAT and sales tax) and expanded to the neighbouring towns of Naraingarh and Shehzadpur.
The cluster produces about 1.5 crore eggs daily and supplies the neighbouring states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
The price of eggs fell by 50 paisa and, according to poultry farmers, has caused a loss of about Rs 15-20 crore in the past two weeks.
Pramod Singla, president of the Haryana Poultry Farmers' Association, said, "For the past three years reports of bird flu have been floated in the peak demand season and caused a huge loss to SMEs. The demand of end-buyers has not been affected much but price is being offered at a negotiated rate to poultry farmers."
Last year the scare lasted for a week but this year it persisted longer, he added.
In the beginning of December, poultry farmers were getting Rs 400 per 100 eggs and this fell to Rs 360. The average cost of producing an egg is Rs 3.25 round the year but the price of an egg slips to Rs 2.30-2.40 in the off-season. The months of December to February fetch good business, but demand is tepid during the rest of the year.
Adding to the SMEs' worries is the increasing cost of bird feed. The prices of all commodities used in bird feed (maize, soya bean and millet) have risen by about 10 per cent in the last two weeks. So, poultry farmers have been squeezed from both sides, pointed out Devender Ahlawat, a poultry farmer.
Most SMEs say that the fall in price cuts into the margins of producers but consumers get no discount - it is only the middleman who walks away with the excess profit. Last year some poultry farms in Barwala closed down owing to non-viability, Ahlawat said.
In some states, particularly in the southern region, eggs are included in mid-day meals for school children. "In Haryana, if the state government incorporates eggs in mid-day meals, it will not only spur business for us but will also provide a healthy and nutritious diet for children," said another poultry farmer.
The concentration of poultry units at one place has also created a need to dispose of bird litter. However, a proposal to use the droppings to generate power came to nought, though the technology for this is available.
But this can be recycled by generating power from bird litter, the technology for which is available. Members of the Barwala cluster did in fact approach state government officials in the recent past to take the initiative, because this would also provide a cheap source of power.
A proposal was drawn up in which the industry was made a stakeholder and a private-sector multinational was to set up a plant. But for some reason this did not turn into reality. In the absence of upgradation of infrastructure, poultry farms have stagnated.
