India controlled bird-flu menace faster than China: Pawar

New Delhi, Mar 12 (UNI) Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today said India had checked the bird-flu disease in a short period as compared to other affected countries like China and Indonesia, resulting in the opening of the international market for the country's poultry products after just a four-month-long ban.

Replying to of questions in the Lok Sabha on the Decline in Chicken and Egg production, he said the spread of bird-flu had severely affected the poultry sector. However, the government had succeeded in arresting the problem within four months. ''India was the only country which had controlled the disease in such a short period.'' He said the disease could not be contained by China and Indonesia for more than one and a half years.

Mr Pawar said the problem now was to meet the requirements of other countries for the export of poultry products.

He said the egg production during 2006-07 was estimated at 47.3 billion. This could be compared with 46.2 billion during 2005-06 and 45.2 billion during 2004-05.

The chicken and meat production had gone up to 1.90 million tonnes in 2005 from 1.40 million tonnes in 2002.

Mr Pawar agreed that the prices of egg had gone up recently.

''The average price of eggs at prominent consumption centres in the country in January this year was higher by 22 per cent to 26 per cent as compared to the average price prevailing at the said centres in January 2006.'' He said the average broiler lifting rates at prominent centres in the country in January 2007 were five to ten per cent higher as compared to the average rates prevailing at the same centres in January 2006.

Mr Pawar said the main factors responsible for the increase in the prices of chicken and eggs this year, as compared to last year, were the increase in the price of maize which constituted 50 per cent of the poultry feed and reduction in installed capacity after outbreak of bird flu in February and March 2006.

Replying to a supplementary, he said the government had already initiated a number of measures, both short and long terms, to improve the production of chicken and eggs in the country.

As part of the short term measures, the government had distributed 3.56 million quintals of subsidised maize to various states at a price of Rs 450 per quintal from the government's stock for further distribution to poultry farmers for use in poultry feed.

The government had implemented the centrally-sponsored schemes ''Assistance to State Poultry and Duck farms'' and the ''Dairy and Poultry Venture Capital Fund'' to improve poultry production on a long-term basis.

UNI