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Journalism of Courage
The bird flu scare may have eased a bit, but not the panic and the Rs 34,000 crore poultry industry is staring at problems of plenty8212;and more losses.
According to industry estimates, India produces 40 lakh broilers every day. And while consumption has dropped 90 per cent in Maharashtra, the epicentre, leading to a huge pile-up in stock of chicken and eggs which have a short shelf life, business isn8217;t good in places as far away as Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata either.
According to Anuradha Desai, Chairperson of the Rs 1,300 crore Venkateshwara Hatcheries, which has a major share of the market, domestic sales have taken a huge hit across the country and because India eats most of what it produces, it hurts the business if people stop eating chicken and eggs.
8216;8216;What8217;s worse is that with summer setting in, we can8217;t hold on to our inventory for long. Farmers are being forced to sell at unthinkably low prices, ruining them forever,8217;8217; she adds.
While the losses haven8217;t been quantified yet, Bharat Tandon, Chairman, Livestock Industry Association, says the industry could take a Rs 4,500 crore hit for the year due to the spillover effect. 8216;8216;Because birds are not being sold, farmers are being forced to curtail production.8217;8217;
What8217;s worrying the industry is that prices may remain depressed for several weeks more, hurting farmers8217; sales even further. But Shashi Kapur, president, Poultry Federation of India, is hopeful that with the government on top of the situation, things will ease in a few weeks. 8216;8216;If demand drops 50 per cent, the pile up is 50 per cent. We are a big industry8230; I believe we can cope if we lose business 15 out of 365 days.8217;8217;
Kapur said he had requested the Centre to make public announcements that it8217;s safe to eat chicken and eggs.
But if domestic sales have plunged, there8217;s some good news on the exports front though India isn8217;t a large poultry exporter8212;it8217;s worth only Rs 500 crore. According to Desai, 8216;8216;Japan has cancelled a chicken order worth Rs 5 crore, but our egg powder exports to Japan and the UAE are on track.8217;8217; The VH Group is the largest exporter of poultry products, accounting for Rs 300 crore of India8217;s total exports.
