Poultry industry's SOS to Jammu and Kashmir

New Delhi, Apr 19 (UNI) The poultry industry today asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to lift the ban on entry of cull birds, those birds which have outlived their productive life, into the state immediately in the interest of consumers as well as for poultry farmers of Punjab and Haryana.

Due to acute shortage of chicken in Jammu and Kashmir, prices of poultry have sky rocketed to Rs 300 per kg.

Mrs Anuradha Desai, Chairperson, National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) in a letter to the Chief Minister said that following reports of bird flu, several State Governments had imposed a ban on entry of live birds into their respective States.

However, on the advice of the Ministry of Agriculture, all other States have lifted the ban. Jammu and Kashmir is the only State, which has not lifted the ban.

Mrs Desai said that due to the ban, movement of cull birds from Punjab and Haryana into Jammu&Kashmir has stopped. As a result, layer birds which have outlived their productivity span are accumulated in the farms. Farmers are faced with a grave situation where they are forced to feed the birds with no significant production of eggs and at the same time they are unable to replace the flocks as the older flocks have not moved out.

''This is affecting the farmers' economy most adversely and soon these cull birds may starve to death as farmers are unable to feed them. At the same time, this has also resulted in an acute shortage of chicken in Jammu&Kashmir - and the check price has sky rocketed to Rs 300 per kg,'' Mrs Desai informed.

Thus, on one hand the poultry farmers of Punjab and Haryana are facing heavy losses and on the other hand the consumers in Jammu and Kashmir have to pay an unduly high price for chicken, she added.

Mrs Desai pointed out that there has not been any report of bird flu in Punjab and Haryana, and hence, there is absolutely no reason to ban the entry of layer cull birds.

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