Madhya Pradesh declared free of bird flu

Madhya Pradesh has been declared bird flu-free, though Burhanpur and Boregaon, where birds died in droves, have been sealed. According to official sources, birds in these areas have not died of avian infuenza "� as earlier reports suggested.

However, as a precautionary measure sale of chicken in these areas has been banned.

As a result poultry farmers and traders, who were already grappling with abysmal demand, are reeling under the ban. Sources say the industry is in no position to sustain fresh losses, in addition to the Rs 5,000 crore lost by poultry farmers after outbreak in Navapur was reported in neighbouring Maharashtra last month.

However, the Indore poultry industry has brushed aside apprehensions of fresh losses as players feel there would be no further effect on their business and they are hopeful that countries like Japan and others would lift the ban on exports as Sri Lanka has already done this and there are chances now that the industry will get back to normal.

"In Jalgaon, poultry owners are individuals who breed some birds in their backyard. So there was little impact," said Inderbir Singh Nayyar, Chairman of National Egg-Coordination Committee (NECC), Indore Chapter and General Secretary of the Indore Poultry Federation.

He added that, however, the hype created by the media could affect the industry already reeling under losses. "The disease stuck mostly backyard poultry farms and only one commercial farm with 3,000 chickens was affected."

NECC and Bromark organised a Chicken Mela in the city on the eve of Holi, where food lovers were served all kinds of chicken dishes free of charge. The organisers maintained that chicken if properly cooked is not harmful.

Nayyar said there are 160 poultry farms in Indore, which consumes 5 lakhs eggs everyday, of which these farms supply about 4 lakh eggs. On the other hand, the daily consumption of chicken in the city is about 4 "� 5 lakh tonne.

The industry turnover is about Rs 1.20 crore from eggs and Rs 1.5 crore from chicken per month.

"Since the demand has fallen by 70 per cent, we have incurred huge losses. Before February 18, the price of chicken was Rs 48 a kilo and now it has slumped to Rs 30 a bird. The price per egg before the outbreak was Rs 1.20 which has now come down to 70 paise," Nayyar said.