The outbreak of bird flu among ducks in central Kerala has had a cascading effect on the poultry sector in the South with sales of both chicken and eggs taking a hit in the past two days.

In Kerala, sales have reportedly dropped 20-25 per cent, following the detection of bird flu. As a result, prices of live broiler chicken have dropped to ₹50-60 a kg, from ₹90-100 two days ago.

Benny Immatty, President of the Poultry Farms and Traders Samithy, said though there were no reports of bird flu in chicken from any part of the State, consumer fears had brought down sales.

Immaty said the issue has also hurt export of processed chicken and eggs, which is around 400 tonnes and seven crore per year, respectively.

Kerala, a large consumer of broiler chicken, depends on neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to meet the demand. The State consumes 875 tonnes a day against a production of 321 tonnes.

Culling of birds The detection of the highly-contagious avian influenza in the Kuttanad region has forced the Kerala government to order the culling of more than two lakh birds and issue a red alert in the three districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta.

However, Immaty said any delay in culling the ducks will worsen the situation.

There were reports that birds affected by flu in the Kuttanad area have been sold in other districts by farmers. Unless the government intervenes, he said, the situation may worsen, affecting the entire poultry sales in the State.

Karnataka also hit In Karnataka, the bird flu scare has already resulted in prices dropping by about 10 per cent for both chicken and eggs.

“The bird flu scare has begun to affect the consumption. The farmgate prices for the birds have dropped to around ₹60 a kg from ₹66 two days ago,” said MCR Shetty, President, Karnataka Poultry Farmers and Breeders Association.

He said bio-security measures are in place and movement of birds has been blocked.

TN unperturbed However, poultry farmers in Tamil Nadu, especially those in Namakkal district, seem unperturbed. “It’s business as usual for us in Namakkal. We vaccinate the chicks without fail and have tightened bio-security in all our farms,” said P Selvaraj, Chairman, NECC-Namakkal zone. Kerala is the second-largest market of the Tamil Nadu poultry industry.

Selvaraj said the demand for eggs has gone up lately due to the onset of winter in the North and there is no chance of prices dropping. “And even if there is a price cut, it won’t be more than five or ten paise a piece,” he added.

Officials at the Central Poultry Development Organisation in Bangalore said bird flu has been reported only among ducks in parts of Kerala.

“However, we are taking preventive measures,” an official said, adding that no consumer had approached them.

VK Mohan, Vice-President (Sales and Marketing), Suguna Foods, said the ducks in Kuttanad had come into contact with migratory birds.

“Since our poultry farms are in Tamil Nadu, the possibility of birds contacting with migratory ones are remote. Besides our birds are farmed in a bio-secure environment,” he said.

The company currently supplies 300 tonnes of processed meat a month in the State in temperature-controlled vehicles. As far as Suguna is concerned, there has been no decline in sales, Mohan said.

(With inputs from Vishwanath Kulkarni in Bengaluru and Gayathri G in Chennai)

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