Chicken as good as free, yet no takers

The bird flu scare has sent the chicken prices in Kerala plummeting from Rs 50-52 per kg a couple of weeks back, to as low as Rs 15-20 a kg. The flu has also adversely impacted the demand for eggs and traders have stopped trading in eggs.

In spite of the rockbottom prices, customers are not interested in chicken. A trader told Business Standard that chicken at even Rs 10 has very few takers.

The demand for other meats, especially beef has increased and hotels and restaurants are now shifting to beef biriyani instead of chicken biriyani.

In fact, the bird flu has triggered a chain reaction. With chicken biriyani hardly finding any takers, the demand for biriyani rice and allied products, used in its preparation, has been affected in the state. Of every 100 biriyani sold in Kerala, it is estimated that 60-70 of them are chicken biriyani, but the bird flu has changed it all.

Avian flu has also caused serious damage to the chicken feed business. Paul Mathew, a chicken feed trader near Kochi said that he used to sell 5-7 truckloads of feed every week, but now he hardly sells 50"�60 bags. The agricultural sector too is changing its strategies since it cannot import manure from chicken farms. This manure is among the cheapest available for vegetable and coconut trees.

To allay fear, chicken traders recently organised a public awareness programme at Vypin, an island near Kochi. Chicken delicacies were served free of cost. Similar awareness campaigns were organised by fish traders and trawling boat owners after the tsunami disaster in different parts of the state when people were reluctant to eat fish.