Andhra Pradesh - Eluru   

Bird flu scare hits poultry industry

ELURU: The incidence of bird flu reported in West Bengal has taken a heavy toll on the poultry industry in the coastal region. Export of eggs from the region has witnessed a sharp decline and the prices of eggs and chicks dipped in the last one week.

A meeting of the poultry farmers held at Tanuku on Monday under the aegis of the Godavari Zonal unit of the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), has registered its strong protest over the reported statement of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya with an appeal to the people in his State not to eat eggs and chicken transported from Andhra Pradesh. According to B. Rama Rao, a spokesman of NECC, the incidence of bird flue reported on the Bangadesh-West Benga borders got no way related to the eggs and birds supplied from Andhra Pradesh.

The meeting resolved to reduce 25 per cent of egg production in the Godavari zone, comprising West Godavari and parts of East Godavari, in the light of a steep fall in orders from West Bengal, Bihar and Assam. It was also decided to cull the birds in 65 weeks age as part of controlling the layer population.

According to estimates, 1.4 crore layers produce 90 lakh eggs per day in the Godavari zone of NECC. It is estimated that around 2 crore eggs are traded from Krishna, West and East Godavari districts into other consuming states for sale daily. The price of egg fell by 50 per cent in the last one week. Display boards with the ‘bumper’ offer of price reduction are greeting the consumers visiting the chicken stalls in almost all the coastal towns for several days. The broiler price fell to Rs 50 per kg from Rs. 90 in one week. To quote Kamalanadhan, a veterinary doctor working for a private hatcheries company, there is no impact of the bird flue scare on the demand side. “Our company sold 20,000 broilers in the previous week and it remains the same in the current week also”, he observed.

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