Need to shut commercial poultry at Navapur for 3 months: Minister

Mumbai, Mar 18 (UNI) Maharashtra's Minister of State for Animal Husbandry Hassan Mushrif today stressed the need to shut down commercial poultry farms at Navapur in Nandurbar district for three months to prevent the recurrance of deadly avian flu, which has hit hard the Rs 32,000 crore poultry industry in the country.

Replying to a calling attention notice by Mr Gurunath Kulkarni of (NCP) in the State Legislative Council today, he said it would be essential to '' close the poultry farms for three months to avoid recurrance of the disease.'' The Minister informed the House that a total of 3,23,675 birds were culled and 14,47,113 eggs destroyed in Navapur after the country's first outbreak of the flu caused by H5N1 virus was confirmed on February 18. The task of destroying bird litter and chicken feed in a scintific way was still going on in Navapur, he added.

Replying to a supplimentary on compensation to poultry farmers raised by Mr Sagar Meghe (BJP), the Minister said sufficient funds are available and compensation is being paid at the rate of Rs 40 for a 'desi' layer, Rs 30 for a broiler and Rs 10 for a chick. Mr Meghe said poultry business has crashed by at least 80 per cent in the State.

Later, the Animal Husbandry Minister Anees Ahmed, said the government is working out a scheme to help affected poultry farmers, adding once approved by the Council of Ministers, it would be announced in the House.

He agreed that it has become impossible to run a big poultry farm because each bird requires a daily feed costing Rs 2 to Rs 2.50, particularly when the sale of chicken and eggs have declined drastically in the aftermath of the flu.

Mr Ahmed said all the estimated 75,000 birds have been culled in the affected villages of Jalgaon district.

He said a total of 3,000 poultry samples have been sent from various parts of Maharashtra for the flu test to the High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory at Bhopal.

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