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Poultry farmers cry foul as chicken sales drop
Fear over bird flu affecting poultry industry say worried farmers
As bird flu gets closer with neighbouring India reporting an outbreak in poultry, panic and fear appear to be affecting the industry here with some farms being forced to close down, others scaling down operations and other sectors in the trade including poultry-feed sellers reporting drastic reductions in sales.

Most of the 75,000 poultry farmers in the country have been directly affected since reports of an outbreak in several countries a few months back. The situation worsened with news that bird flu had hit India last week, although there was no immediate indication that it could affect Sri Lanka.

Over the week average egg prices dropped from Rs. 8.00 to Rs. 4.00 while the price of a kilogram of chicken (live birds) dropped from an average of Rs. 110 to Rs. 70.

Initially the bird flu scare affected the local industry ahead of the Christmas season and as a result some of the farms had either closed down or scaled down their operations by more than 50 per cent. However the larger farms were able to sustain the losses. “An unwarranted panic has created this situation. Though we should be cautious, we need not panic,” warns Terrance Wijesuriya, manager of one of the leading farms, Marista Brothers.

He said that some of the farms were finding it difficult to sell their produce without making losses as the demand for chicken and eggs was dropping due to the panic.

Mr. Wijesuriya who is also a member of the All Island Poultry Association said consumers need to be assured that so far there has been no threat to the birds or poultry industry here, and that the government was taking all necessary precautions.

Last week the government suspended the import of poultry from India following reports that bird flu had affected that country. India also has taken precautions.

Mr. Wijesuriya also said the style of cooking adopted in Sri Lanka was another safeguard as chicken is usually boiled before being consumed.

Some of the hatcheries are also among those seriously affected. A spokesman for the Sri Lanka Libya Agricultural and Livestock Development Co. Ltd told The Sunday Times that the sale of day-old chicks had also fallen, as some of the farms were taking precautions and were scared to invest.

The manager of St. Anthony’s farm and hatcheries, Douglas Fernando said he had been forced to close down late last year, as his profits were falling drastically.

He said if the industry fully recovers he may consider returning to the business. Mr. Prabath Fonseka of Agro Nutrition (Pvt) Ltd. said the sales of pharmaceuticals used in the poultry industry too had declined as many of the farm-owners were not buying the same amount of stocks as earlier. He also said that some of the importers have cancelled their orders which could result in a price increase of the veterinary products.

“ I have taken the risk and placed my orders until March,” he said.
R.Baskaran, of Suppiah Chetty AP in Colombo said sales of poultry feed had dropped by about 30 to 40 per cent over the past three months, due to the fear of bird flu.

Poultry producers said that sales of poultry products had fallen in the rural areas too, but most people were not aware of the fear of bird flu but were taking precautions on hearing that a disease was spreading among poultry.

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