Bhubaneswar: After bird flu outbreak, the threat of the deadly coronavirus has severely hit the poultry farmers in Odisha, forcing them to go for distress sale of the chickens.
Reports from Nimapara in Puri districts said that the poultry farmers on Sunday had fixed Rs 40 per chicken. As no one turned up to purchase the chicken, they then offered three chickens at Rs 100, which also did not attract any customer.
With no option left, the poultry farmers on Monday went for a distress sale of chicken at Rs 10 each.
Talking to the media, president of the All Odisha Poultry Forum (AOPF) Harmohan Das said as the consumption of chicken in the state has come down drastically due to the threat of the coronavirus, the farmers are unable to sell the chickens. As a result, the unsold chickens have grown up. Unable to feed these big chickens, the farmers are prepared to sell these at a much lower price. If this situation continues, the farmers will lose their livelihood, he added.
Sources in the Animal Resources Development department said that the daily sale of eggs in Odisha is about one crore while that of chicken is about 30-40 lakhs in a week. Due to bird flu and the coronavirus threat, the volume of sale has come down to about 50 per cent.
