Assam to cull chicken to save poultry units
While Assam’s poultry sector has taken a beating due to the outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring West Bengal, the state has decided to cull around 70,000 chickens.
By Bikash Singh, TNN |
GUWAHATI: While Assam’s poultry sector has taken a beating due to the outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring West Bengal, the state has decided to cull around 70,000 chickens. The ban on the entry of the poultry products from the neighbouring West Bengal has caused losses of around Rs 2 crore in the last 15 days. Assam imports over 20 truckloads of poultry eggs from Andhra Pradesh everyday and according to the traders, each truck of egg costs about Rs 5.5 lakh.
The All Assam Egg Merchants’ Association (AAEMA) has demanded compensation from the state government to tide over the crisis. More than 2,500 and 4,000 chickens were culled from the interstate border in the two districts of Kokrajhar and Dhubri on Sunday and Monday, respectively. The initiative has been undertaken as part of a precautionary measure from the Union government. Already, 10 rapid response teams have been pressed into service in different places. Traders feel that the ban on entry of eggs was illogical as eggs are being imported from Andhra Pradesh, which is a bird flu-free state.
President of the AAEMA Nitai Ghosh said: “No eggs are coming here from West Bengal while the Andhra Pradesh has already been declared flu-free state by the animal husbandry department. But without paying any heed to all these, government has banned import of eggs. As a result, the egg traders are at a loss. Bird flu in West Bengal has only been detected in the broiler chicken and the layer birds, which lay eggs, are free from the disease,” he said.
The association also demanded that the state government officials should investigate the reports by Andhra government declaring the state a bird-flu free state and resume the import of eggs from Andhra Pradesh.
“The experts at the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal, and Southern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory have already declared Andhra Pradesh flu free state. So we don’t see any reason banning eggs from the state,” the association felt.
Sources said the rate of compensation to be paid for each chicken culled is Rs 40 and Rs 10 for each chick, but the affected people are demanding immediate compensation. Assam needs about 35 lakh kg poultry feed annually, and bulk of this comes from outside the state as the production facility near Guwahati and Tezpur in Sonitpur district in the state is very small.
The All Assam Egg Merchants’ Association (AAEMA) has demanded compensation from the state government to tide over the crisis. More than 2,500 and 4,000 chickens were culled from the interstate border in the two districts of Kokrajhar and Dhubri on Sunday and Monday, respectively. The initiative has been undertaken as part of a precautionary measure from the Union government. Already, 10 rapid response teams have been pressed into service in different places. Traders feel that the ban on entry of eggs was illogical as eggs are being imported from Andhra Pradesh, which is a bird flu-free state.
President of the AAEMA Nitai Ghosh said: “No eggs are coming here from West Bengal while the Andhra Pradesh has already been declared flu-free state by the animal husbandry department. But without paying any heed to all these, government has banned import of eggs. As a result, the egg traders are at a loss. Bird flu in West Bengal has only been detected in the broiler chicken and the layer birds, which lay eggs, are free from the disease,” he said.
The association also demanded that the state government officials should investigate the reports by Andhra government declaring the state a bird-flu free state and resume the import of eggs from Andhra Pradesh.
“The experts at the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal, and Southern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory have already declared Andhra Pradesh flu free state. So we don’t see any reason banning eggs from the state,” the association felt.
Sources said the rate of compensation to be paid for each chicken culled is Rs 40 and Rs 10 for each chick, but the affected people are demanding immediate compensation. Assam needs about 35 lakh kg poultry feed annually, and bulk of this comes from outside the state as the production facility near Guwahati and Tezpur in Sonitpur district in the state is very small.
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