KOCHI: For a state that has a predominant non-vegetarian population (97 per cent), chicken forms a staple item. In its many forms, the state consumes between 3,000 tonnes and 5,000 tonnes of poultry a day, as per the sources with the All-Kerala Poultry Federation.Quite an impressive figure, but equally enormous is the amount of poultry waste generated. Over one-third of the poultry ends up as waste, which makes over 1,300 tonnes everyday. And, most of this waste is collected from chicken centres by corporation-approved agencies and moved to Tamil Nadu and other neighbouring states as feed for pig farms.
However, lockdown and containment zone declarations have played the spoilsport, with the waste collection coming to a halt in major parts of the state and city. This has resulted in the dumping of poultry waste on roadsides and waterbodies, an extremely unhygienic practice that has been prevalent for some time.
According to M Thajudheen, state president, All Kerala Poultry Federation, the issue is so grave post lockdown that many traders have decided to stop selling chicken due to inability to dispose of the waste.
“The door-to-door waste collection has gone for a toss. We have no other means. Some of them are resorting to dumping the waste on roadsides. This is extremely hazardous and can trigger the outbreak of diseases. We had met the government many times about setting up a plant where poultry waste can be processed to no avail,” said Thajudheen. While the issue has aggravated in Thiruvananthapuram which is currently under lockdown, the situation is grave in many parts of Ernakulam district, including in Aluva which has been declared a containment zone.
Needed: A processing plant
The issue which was snowballing much before the Covid outbreak has reached its zenith during the lockdown. Moving the waste to waste treatment plants like Vilappilsala in Thiruvananthapuram and Brahmapuram in Kochi had triggered public protests in the past. The traders think the only solution is a processing plant. “A plant is a very costly idea. Many dealers had explored the idea of a setting up small plants which can process 200-500kg of poultry waste. That itself amounts to Rs 12 lakh. How many of us can afford such costly machinery? ,” he added.
While the authorities had devised many projects in the past, none of them bore fruit. In 2012, the Kochi Corporation had plans to introduce a scientific method for treating poultry waste by setting up a treatment plant. A detailed project report was submitted too, but the project seemed to be lost in red tape.
“Setting up a poultry waste processing plant came up recently when the Waste-to-Energy Treatment Plant at Brahmapuram was discussed. The corporation had seriously considered the woes of poultry farmers before taking the decision. But the government’s decision to cancel the agreement it inked with GJ Eco Power Pvt Ltd for the plant derailed it,” says T K Prem Kumar, deputy mayor, Kochi Corporation.
He agrees that the only option the poultry farmers have now is the agencies which collect such waste. However, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is considering setting up a new waste treatment plant where the slaughter waste will be converted into value-added products.
Fall in demand
According to the federation, there is such a huge slump in demand that poultry farmers have stopped breeding and rearing chicks. “Earlier, if the farmers bred chicks four times a month, we now do it only twice a month as the demand has fallen by 50 per cent. That is the only way we can control the prices,” said Thajudheen.