Poultry sector seeks sops for bird flu-hit farmers
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2004 10:49:56 PM ]
PUNE:Almost 20,000 small poultry farmers in the North and Maharashtra, hit by the bird flu scare earlier this year, are looking to the central government for assistance. The loss to these farmers has been estimated around Rs 1,000 crore during the 17-day period of the scare.

"The smaller units were hit harder and we have asked for a relief and rehabilitation package for them. The daily national consumption is 50 lakh broilers or 75 lakh kg of chicken meat. If there is even a 10% drop, it creates a critical situation for the small farmer," Anuradha Desai, chairperson, National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) and also chairperson of the Venkateshwara Hatcheries group, said.

Such a package will cover their need for fresh working capital, credit and re-scheduling of bank loans, she said. The package is targeted specifically at the smaller farmers. She added that the small farmers of Orissa, Bihar and other states have to be considered separately since they tend to have a few hundred birds.

The appeal was made by NECC chairperson during a meeting of the representatives of the farming community with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ministers for food and agriculture, water resources and rural development in New Delhi on Monday.

Among other issues which the poultry sector presented to the PM was recognition to the sector as agriculture and the steep rise in prices of maize.

"If poultry is recognised as agriculture, we can get benefits like preferential rates of power and other tariff. Poultry is closely linked to agriculture. But, it is neither industry nor agriculture," she said.

Despite a plentiful stock of maize following a bumper crop last year, Ms Desai said traders are hoarding the commodity. "We have asked for an exclusive allocation from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) of maize since it is an essential input for poultry feed," she said.
Ms Desai said that traders are expected to hold on to their stock for another 45 days, since fresh arrivals will begin by early September.