Poultry industry takes Rs 1,800-cr hit

It may be only Day 3 of the bird flu scare, but the Rs 35,000-crore poultry industry is already counting its losses. According to initial es...

It may be only Day 3 of the bird flu scare, but the Rs 35,000-crore poultry industry is already counting its losses. According to initial estimates, the industry lost Rs 1,800-crore of business in these two-and-a-half days alone, even in places far away from Navapur taluka in Nandurbar district which was declared bird flu-hit on Saturday.

In Andhra Pradesh, for example, India8217;s biggest poultry producer 8212; it produces 6 lakh broiler chickens and 5 crore eggs a day 8212; the broiler chicken business took a hit of 50 per cent in cities like Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Vishakapatnam, Vijaywada on Sunday.

The state lost Rs 5.2 crore in revenue because few people were buying broiler chicken or eggs. In Tamil Nadu though no one is talking numbers yet, the broiler chicken business is down 40 per cent.

The worst-hit is Maharashtra, of course, which is the third-largest poultry producer in the country. The state produces 90 lakh eggs and 9 lakh chickens a day. 8216;8216;There8217;s been a 50 per cent drop in business in Mumbai and 40 per cent in Pune,8217;8217; says Anuradha Desai, Chairperson, National Egg Co-ordination Committee.

Desai, who is also Chairperson, Venkateshwara Hatcheries, says the lifting rate of chickens from the farms has dropped from Rs 36 per kg to Rs 16 per kg. 8216;8216;The Maharashtra poultry industry lost Rs 200-300 crore in two days,8217;8217; claims O P Singh, CEO, Venkateshwara Hatcheries.

According to Balram Singh Yadav, VP, Integrated Poultry Business of Godrej Agrovet, which is a big supplier in the Mumbai market, sales have dipped 20-30 per cent. 8216;8216;We have excellent checking systems and most of our chickens come from the Pune-Panvel belt and parts of Nashik. The nearest farm near Nandurbar is 250 km away, so we feel business will bounce back in a few days.8217;8217;

But Gopal Reddy, president, Andhra Pradesh Broiler Farmers8217; Association, isn8217;t so sure. 8216;8216;We are as far away as possible from Nandurbar according to WHO norms, only 3 km around the bird-flu hit area should be cordoned off, and yet we are suffering huge losses.8217;8217; Reddy says, adding that for the past four years, AP bird samples have been routinely tested at the high security Bhopal lab. 8216;8216;The results have been negative and we want the government to come out with the findings and declare that our poultry is safe.8217;8217;

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8216;8216;People are in a state of panic and refraining from buying chicken and eggs,8217;8217; admits R Laxmanan, president, Tamil Nadu Broiler Coordination Committee.

Part of the confusion stems from the fact that the major poultry players are in denial that the birds have tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza.