The evasion of entry tax to Kerala by chicken farmers in Namakkal in Tamil Nadu could amount to Rs 66 crore every year, Association Secretary V N Rajan has said. Following pressure from the poultry farmers' lobby in the State, Kerala Government had clamped ten percent entry tax on the passage of broiler chicken to the state.

While the Namakkal chicken's edging out of the Kerala product from the market had long been a sore issue with the Kerala poultry business, the situation has assumed serious dimension with the recent increase in the costs of commercial poultry rearing. The persisting gap between Kerala's demand and supply of poultry meat, despite the State's strides in poultry sector, too gave theright climate for smuggling in the Tamil Nadu chicken.Though the Kerala farmer spent Rs 35 to produce one kilo of chicken, because of the competition posed by the Tamil Nadu chicken, he had to sell it for Rs 28 or less, Sathyan Mokeri, Secretary of All India Kisan Sabha said.

The Tamil Nadu chicken was a poor comparison to Kerala chicken in terms of quality of meat and in terms of feed inputs used, according to the All Kerala Poultry Farmers' Association. While backyard poultry was viable and popular in Kerala, commercial poultry farming was too reliant on purchased feed to be lucrative. The fall in price of poultry products because of the competition from big farms in Tamil Nadu had led to the closure of the farms in Kerala, Satyan Mokeri said.

The State Government's efforts to give a new lease of poultry development has lagged behind in market development and in bringing down the cost of production. Even the thrust of the State Poultry Development Corporation, set up in 1989 with the aim of revivingpoultry farming, had remained in improved the quality rather than the quantity. Investing Rs 5.95 crore, the Corporation has set up broiler breeding farm and hatchery.

According to the sources in the State Animal Husbandry department, it is not progress, but sufficient progress that the State's poultry sector is lacking. Kerala's share of the country's poultry production, according to available statistics, is more than ten percent. According to Livestock Census 1996, the State possesses 11.9 lakh ducks and 256 lakh poultry. The poultry meat production increased from 0.344 lakh tonnes in 1997 lakh tonnes in the year 1998. However, the demand in chicken in Kerala was also growing in equal speed. According to a study conducted by Meat Products of India (MPI) in 1995, Kerala topped the country in the consumption of meat, including that of poultry.