NAMAKKAL: Bird flu rumours have broken the back of the egg industry in Namakkal zone, with sales recording a slump of 25 per cent a day. With the sales going south, the poultry owners have the State to crack whip on those spreading rumours online.
Some malicious messages have been doing the rounds claiming that consumption of chicken or egg would lead to coronavirus infection. Namakkal zone Egg Producers Association president K Mohan Raj said that the 1,000-odd poultry farms employing thousands of people are in crisis. The Namakkal zone, comprising Salem, Namakkal, Tirupur and Erode, meet 80 per cent of the nation’s egg needs. “There has been no coronavirus case in Tamil Nadu. Unsubstantiated reports on social media are fanning scare, resulting in 25 per cent loss in sales,” he says.
Raj said that the National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) on Wednesday fixed egg price at Rs 3.18. “However, wholesale traders and retailers are not ready to buy egg for Rs 2.5 as well,” he pointed out.