AP Poultry Federation general secretary Padala Subba Reddy said, “We are estimating the loss to the poultry industry due to bird flu and it may take some time.
Vijayawada: To dispel misapprehensions about bird flu, the animal husbandry authorities, with the support from poultry farmers, will conduct ‘chicken and egg melas’ to promote consumption of cooked meat of chickens and their boiled eggs in a big way in several parts of Andhra Pradesh.
The main objective of such melas is to bring about awareness among people that consumption of chickens and eggs from unaffected areas will not transmit the virus of avian influenza to human beings as no such cases have been reported from any part of the country so far.
However, bird flu-affected chickens and those from the poultry farms located within one km radius have already been culled and buried in deep pits along with their eggs ruling out any chance for presence of avian influenza.
However, with misinformation campaign in some parts of the state, the poultry industry, National Egg-Coordination Committee, poultry farmers and the animal husbandry department have come to a common platform to reach out to people to dispel misapprehensions on consumption of cooked chicken meat and boiled eggs. Accordingly, all stakeholders have come forward to conduct such melas by extending financial and logistic support.
Meanwhile, animal husbandry authorities along with poultry farmers and other stakeholders planned to hold chicken and egg mela at Eluru on Sunday for an estimated 2,000 people and they will offer chicken dum biryani and boiled eggs free of cost.
So is the case with the authorities in East Godavari district who are planning to organise the mela in Rajahmundry and in West Godavari district too. There are plans to hold the mela in Bhimavaram for 1,000 people in the coming week. The authorities and the poultry federation held such a mela in Guntur on Friday where a large number of people turned up to relish chicken dum biryani and boiled eggs.
Guntur animal husbandry joint director Dr O. Narasimha Rao said, “There was a huge turnout of people at the mela to consume chicken biryani and boiled eggs indicating that misapprehensions on consumption of chicken meat and eggs are dissipating which is a positive sign for recovery of poultry industry in the state.”
AP Poultry Federation general secretary Padala Subba Reddy said, “We are estimating the loss to the poultry industry due to bird flu and it may take some time. The egg rate (farmers selling rate to wholesalers/retailers) which used to be Rs 6.20 had come down to Rs 3.90 and it is slowly recovering to Rs 4.15.”
