BENGALURU: The poultry industry in Karnataka is facing an existential threat in the wake of false news on social media and rumours linking the COVID-19 with it. Dr SM Byregowda, director, Institute of Animal Health & Veterinary Biologicals, Bengaluru, said, “No link between COVID-19 and native animals or birds has been found so far. Meat eaters can eat chicken without any fear. People should stop spreading rumours, which is creating panic in society and hurting the poultry farmers.”
Some of the leading poultry farmers, who met Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday, to salvage the sector, said that “sale of live birds has dipped by 50 per cent in the state since February 1 because of false news on social media linking the coronavirus with poultry despite scientists and researchers stating that there is absolutely no link between the two,” former president of the Karnataka Poultry Farmers and Breeders Association (KPFBA), KS Ashok Kumar, told The New Sunday Express. He warned that if the “negative trend continued, then the fate of poultry farming in Karnataka will be sealed.”
“Not only in Karnataka, but poultry across India is also suffering under false propaganda,” said Dr Sushanth Rai, president, KPFBA. “We are fighting malnutrition in the country. Eggs are rich source of vitamins and minerals and chicken is a source of protein. This kind of baseless propaganda will hurt the nutrition and the economics of the country,” he said. A dramatic dip in the sales of live birds has led to an unusual pile-up of bird stocks in the farms. “Around 2 crore live birds are piled up at farms across Karnataka. Soon farmers will not be in a position to feed the birds if the negative trend continues. There is no place to hatch fertile eggs because of the pile-up,” said Kumar.
He added that the situation has become so grim that farmers are making distress sale of birds to meet their costs or recover their capital at least.
“We spend Rs 80 to Rs 90 per kg, which works out to be around Rs 160 per bird and on an average. We get Rs 3 per kg or Rs 8 per bird. There is 4 to 5 per cent profit in normal times. But today’s market is so bad that farmers are selling their birds between Rs 35 and Rs 40 per bird and even then there are no buyers. We are losing 50 per cent of our cost per bird since the outbreak of rumours. Unfortunately, while the poultry farmer is reeling under a huge loss, the retailers are still selling chicken at the usual market rate – Rs 120 to Rs 150 per kg,” he added.
“On average, around 85 lakh birds are grown per week in Karnataka. We used to sell around 11 lakh birds every day till recently. The sales have now dropped to 6 lakh live birds per day,” said Kumar.