The recent outbreak of bird flu or avian influenza in several states across the country had hit the poultry farming industry in Punjab with sales dropping by nearly 50 per cent due to apprehension among consumers.
In a press conference held here today in Jalandhar, the members of poultry association blamed the loss suffered by the industry to various fake campaigns and messages being circulated on social media, creating panic among consumers. They said the situation is expected to worsen further as the state government has declared Punjab as a controlled area.
“Although no cases of bird flu in chicken have been confirmed in Punjab as of now, people have stopped eating chicken and eggs as precaution, due to which the demand for the poultry products have reduced by over 50% in the last four-five days”, they said.
The members said that the wholesale rate of boilers in Punjab was around Rs 90 per kg four days ago, which came down to Rs 54 on Friday. Similarly, for eggs, they said, a tray of 30 eggs, which cost Rs180, was now being sold for Rs100.
The members further said every month Punjab has a turnover of about Rs 500 crore including poultry and eggs, which has now come down to Rs 250 crore. They said that about 1.5 lakh chickens were sold daily in the state, however, now this demand too has reduced to half. “In Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal, chickens were supplied from Punjab, but now the supply has almost stopped owing to bird flu scare”, they said.
Dr MP Singh, Joint Director, Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL), Jalandhar, said, “There is no need to panic as of now as there has been no case in Punjab so far. However, looking at the situation in the neighbouring states, the department and government are taking precautions and have decided to step up our testing daily to 1,500 or so”.