The outbreak of bird flu at regular intervals and volatility in the feed prices have been major factors adversely impacting the expansion of the country’s poultry industry, estimated to more than Rs 23,000 crore.
After West Bengal and Assam, there has been an outbreak of bird flu in Sikkim, where poultry birds have been infected with the deadly virus within the last one year. Industry sources said that although the government has managed to take preventative steps for further spreading of the virus, the failure to create poultry zones has prevented it from providing a long-term solution.
The poultry industry has been demanding zoning of major poultry pockets in the country, which would ensure that in case of a stray occurrence of bird flu in one zone, it will not result in the banning of exports from other zones.
The National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC), a leading industry body, has said that poultry product exporting countries like China, Malaysia and even some smaller African countries have created zones within their national boundaries and have notified areas, which are free from avian flu.
“Due to bird flu incidents, poultry products exports to Gulf countries have been suspended from here,” VS Balasubramaniam, manager and coordination, NECC, from the Namakkal, a hub for the poultry industry in Tamil Nadu, told FE. Rabobank paper, in 2008, had stated that the poultry industry is ‘hampered’ by outbreaks of avian influenza. “Even though the situation has been brought under control after every such outbreak, largely through quick intervention by the government, a long-term solution is required wherein the industry is also invests in veterinary practices so as to prevent such outbreaksin the future,” the Rabobank paper said.
The volatility in feed prices have been hitting poultry farmers hard. According to Poultry Federation of India (PFI), due to surging exports of soyameal, the domestic prices have risen from Rs 13,000 per tonne in October 2008 to Rs 21,000 per tonne at present.
Live weight chicken is selling for Rs 54 per kg in the Delhi market, while the cost of production is around Rs 47 per kg. The feed mainly consists of soyabean meal, corn and supplements, and is selling at Rs 17,000 per tonne, up from Rs 14,000 per tonne in October. Poultry feed comprises of around 70% of the total cost of production of eggs and chicken.
“Farmers were bullish during the winter months, when the demand for poultry product rises significantly,” Thaper, treasurer, PFI said. However, Thapar said that bird flu and the rise in feed prices is putting pressure on the farmers’ margins.
India annually produces 2 billion poultry birds and 47 billion eggs on 2 lakh farms. Despite being hampered by outbreaks of avian influenza, the poultry industry is estimated to have grown at 11% per annum during 1991-2006.
Meanwhile, there are indications that due to the economic slowdown, in developed countries, maize exports from the country could decline. India exported a record 18.5 million tonne of maize exports during 2007-08 due to a bumper crop and cheaper maize.