Poultry business generally has suffered after announcement of Bird Flu in India .In Gujarat it is reported that 80% of the business has been wiped out. In Utchal taluka of Surat 90,000 chickens have been culled.
Ramesh Patel, secretary of the Gujarat Broiler Farmers' Association, said Sunday that the poultry industry in Gujarat is losing Rs.10 million a day."Although the government has assured that there is no ban over poultry products across the state except a small part in Surat district, the local bodies and municipal corporations object to the entry of poultry products into the cities," said Patel at a press conference.
"The government and media should make people aware that there is no need to panic as no bird flu strain has been found among humans yet," he added.
According to the association, there are 446 poultry farms in the state with eight million chickens producing 3.2 million eggs daily.
Patel said poultry owners sell around 45 percent of their produce outside Gujarat. The rest is consumed in the local markets.
"But since there has been a sharp decrease in demand, it has become difficult for us to sustain the business," he said.
According to Patel, if this low demand situation lasts for some time, the chickens would die of hunger.
The news of disease among birds in the city of Vadodara Saturday added to the panic in central Gujarat where nearly 65 percent of the state's total poultry farms are located.
However, the disease was later attributed to Ranikhet disease, a relatively harmless infection, and not bird flu. Source: IANS
