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Down the drain

  • 14/03/2006

Navapur has 52 poultry farms with a total fowl population of approximately 1,400,000 (almost 1,100,000 chicken are provided by Venkateshwara Hatcheries) and a daily turnover of Rs 12-13 lakh. Almost its entire poultry trade is in eggs (layer chicken) and not broilers. Once a layer stops laying egg and grows old, it is sold for anything between Rs 20 and Rs 40. Fowl density in Navapur is estimated at 100,000 birds per sq km. There is no clear data because it is not mandatory for the animal husbandry department to register poultry farms. Apart from the organised business of poultry farms, Navapur also has what is known as backyard poultries, meaning almost all households have desi hens numbering anywhere between two to 20. These are mostly used by local people for personal consumption and small-scale selling in local markets, says K B Gururaja, tehsildar, Navapur taluka. Poultry farmers claim the ongoing culling has already led to a loss of Rs 30 crore at least and it will take months before Navapur is back in business. Some say the industry is as good as dead. Unsurprisingly, Navapur poultry farmers are protesting against the state's Rs 40 compensation per layer hen, Rs 30 per broiler and Rs 10 for small chicken. The epidemic and the protests have prompted damage-control measures. The state government plans to draft a law that will grade and regulate livestock-based farm units. An authority created under the proposed law will monitor poultries. This will impact backyard poultry, which may be banned.

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