COVID-19 impact: Tough times for poultry farmers as prices crash by 60%

With the number of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) infected patients increasing with every passing day, at 31 on Friday, creating panic, the poultry industry is hit, forcing the poultry farm owners to demand a relief package from the government for the losses incurred.

While retail price of broiler chicken in Mysuru crashed by more than Rs 40 per kg, wholesale price has reached rock bottom, selling at Rs 25 per kg, leaving the poultry farmers shocked.

The wholesale price of undressed chicken was Rs 87 per kg, which is now sold at Rs 25. Similary, retail price of chicken is Rs 120 per kg, while it was sold at Rs 150-Rs 160 per kg earlier. The price of eggs have come down to Rs 3.50 per piece.

Speaking to DH, National Egg Coordination Committee zonal chairman M P Sathish Babu said, Mysuru city and villages in the radius of 30-km produce around 30 lakh birds annually. “The egg production is 80% of the bird, that is around 25 lakh eggs. Poultry rearers are suffering a huge loss, due to the deadly virus that originated in China. Hundreds of poultry rearers are facing tough times and this is considered a very bad year for the industry,” he said.

Usually, the price of chicken declines during summer every year, as there is less demand for fowls during hot climate. But the misinformation passed on through the social media about the spread of virus through poultry, egg and meat, has reduced the prices drastically, in recent days.

Excess production

Over-production is also one of the reason for the decline in demand for chicken. There is an excess production of eight crore birds this year, which has led to price crash, across the country.

Generally, poultry industry is worst hit during the spread of viral diseases, be it Bird flu, Chikungunya, or now the Corona virus. This had forced the department of Animal Husbandry to issue advertisements in newspapers that eating chicken is safe and had appealed to the people, not to heed to the rumours being circulated on the social media.

Poultry feed

Usually, poultry rearers stock maize, which is used to manufacture poultry feed, during February-March, to be used for the entire year. This year, they are in such a crisis that they are not in a position to even purchase maize, he said.

The poultry rearers held a meeting in Hyderabad recently, urging the banks to give them more time to repay loans and consider waiving off interest for the year, considering the crisis, Sathish said.