AP poultry sector takes Rs 3500 cr hit in 6 wks

Eggs business loses Rs 2000 cr, meat Rs 1500 cr

The poultry industry in Andhra Pradesh has incurred a loss of Rs 3,500 crore in just six weeks owing to bird flu (avian flu) scare. While the layers (eggs) segment registered a loss of Rs 2,000 crore, the broilers (meat) business suffered a loss of Rs 1,500 crore.

G Bucha Rao, regional president, All-India Broiler Farmers' Marketing Cooperative Ltd, said in Andhra Pradesh, daily eight crore broilers were consumed before the bird flu scare hit the markets. The present scenario is that 80 lakh birds, enough for 10 days, have remained unsold despite farmers resorting to panic selling, he added.

Meanwhile, there has been reports of a poultry farmer in Krishna district allegedly committing suicide.

Rao said farmers undertook forcible molting of one-fourth of six crore layers, and postponed laying of eggs by them. Of the eggs laid by the remaining chicks, 50 per cent gradually found their way into the market, while the remaining eggs piled up in storerooms.

P V Ramana, managing director of a leading retail chain in coastal Andhra, R R Chicken Pvt Ltd, said two lakh birds were consumed a day in Hyderabad alone. But after the bird flu-driven decline, consumption has not revived even up to 50 per cent.

However, in Vijayawada (three lakh birds a month), Guntur and other towns, chicken sales have gone up fast on the back of the price crash and a host of incentives, and consumption is nearing normalcy at some other places.

Though sales have recently gone up in terms of volume, farmers and traders have incurred huge losses in terms of value/price. They are just hoping that normal sales would be restored sooner than later.

In fact, the industry at large is making a comeback. The average price of broilers has almost doubled to Rs 14 a kg from Rs 6 a kg in the downturn.

Officials are collecting 10-20 samples daily from every shed for testing, but so far they could not trace bird flu virus.

The industry provides 30 lakh direct jobs and 60 lakh indirect jobs. Bank advances work out to Rs 12,000 crore.