Vijayawada: Poultry farmers stare at huge loss as buyers chicken out

Vijayawada: Sales of chicken has drastically fallen in Krishna district due to the fear of bird flu. Though bird flu cases are not reported in Andhra Pradesh, the consumers are very cautious about the outbreak of avian flu and reluctant to buy chicken.

More than 500 poultry farms are in Krishna district with poultry population of 1.5 crore birds. The poultry farmers purchase each chick at Rs 55 on average and spend Rs120 to Rs150 on its feed and other expenses for over 50 days. If they sell for over Rs 200, they may get some profits. Otherwise, they have to face losses.

Now, the chicken price dropped from Rs200 to Rs150 per kg in many parts of Vijayawada city. The chicken agents buy the chicken from poultry and sell to the retailers. Several hundred hotels, roadside kiosks, chicken shops, biriyani centres and restaurants purchase the chicken from the agents or directly from the poultry.

On Sunday, the chicken prices fell by 25 percent compared to January 1 and kg was sold at Rs150 and Rs160 at different locations. On January 1, the chicken price was between Rs 200 to Rs220.

Bird flu cases were reported in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala and other parts of North India. So far, there is no bird flu case reported in the State.

Poultry farmer V Rajaramesh, Nuzvid of Krishna district, expressed agony over the vigorous campaign launched in social media about the bird flu. He said it was unfortunate that the small poultry farmers have to suffer losses due to the campaign in social media on the bird flu.

He said big companies could survive the losses but, the small farmers could not sustain the losses. He said that he suffered Rs 4 lakh loss in two weeks due to the falling of demand for chicken in the market.

He added that a large number of people are eking out livelihood on the poultry industry. The chicken feed manufacturers, transporters, retail traders and middlemen would lose livelihood, if people stop consuming chicken. He said the worst sufferers will be the poultry farmers because they spent more and the middlemen and retailers ask for very less price.

Shaik Kareemulla, a worker in a chicken shop in Ajit Singh Nagar, Vijayawada city said demand for chicken fell drastically on Sunday. He said though the prices fall by 25 per cent in two weeks, there are no buyers. January is the good month for chicken sales but this year the impact of bird flu is clearly visible, he added.

R Bhaskar, a supplier of chicken, Vijayawada, said the consumers are panicked with the reports of bird flu cases in some parts of the country and now are not willing to take chicken. If the sales drop, the poultry industry, particularly the small farmers will suffer huge loss because they have to sell the stocks at very low price. Broiler chicken is grown for sale and consumption after 50 days of feeding. If the poultry farmer can't sell the bird after 50 days, he will suffer loss because he has spent Rs15 to Rs 20 per day for its feeding.