Poultry farmers in Raigad left high and dry after cyclone

Damaged poultry farms in Khopoli run by M/s Premium chick feed

For the poultry farm owners in Raigad district, the troubles do not seem to end. Rumours about COVID-19 being spread through poultry chicken and birds hampered their business first, with poultry owners selling one chicken for as low as R5 per kg, causing them heavy financial losses.

By the time the rumour disappeared and business was just about picking up, Cyclone Nisarga devastated their poultry farms on June 3, damaging the sheds and killing thousands of broiler chickens, along with a few 'kadaknath' chicken known for its nutritional values.

Raigad being a major supplier of broiler chicken to Mumbai, the damage in the district will certainly have an impact on the supply of chicken to Mumbai and neighbouring areas. Prices are also likely to go up by 10-15 per cent in the retail market.

Dr Subhash Mhaske, deputy director, Animal Husbandry department, Raigad, said, "The entire district has around 2,500 poultry farms, and on an average, the monthly sale goes up to 35 lakh chicken costing around R5 to R6 crore. It is the main source of livelihood for many families here and also employs people in larger poultries. While the Animal Husbandry department has estimated loss of bird lives at 37,950 in the entire district, it has cost a financial loss of R19.25 lakh. Poultry farmers, however, believe that the number could be higher.

According to Dr Mhaske, Pali town has witnessed a large number of poultry deaths at 11,600 birds loss of R6 lakh, followed by Alibaug 11,450 birds and loss of R5.80 lakh and Pen 6,500 birds and loss of R3.25 lakh.

Major loss for poultry farmers

Kunal Pathre, a business partner in family-run M/s KuKooChKu Poultry Farm in Alibaug, established in 1989, said, "This is the first-ever disaster that has impacted all poultry farmers across the district so much. Around 250 poultry farmers buy chicks from us and we pay them R12 per bird for a 42-day period to develop them from a chick to a full-grown chicken." A poultry farmer invests in the poultry infrastructure including sheds, lights, feeds, vaccine, workers etc. for this purpose. The full-grown chicken is then sold to the wholesaler at R100 present rate, who sells them to a retailer and the consumer gets it at R200. "The major loss is for poultry farmers who often take financial assistance for infrastructure costs," said Pathre who lost over 30,000 birds in the cyclone.

'Can't afford insurance'

Each affected poultry farmer is entitled to a compensation of R5,000 per poultry. "This is like rubbing salt on our wounds. The farmers have to spend R300 per sq feet for construction of sheds, and each shed usually costs a few lakhs," Pathre said, adding that farmers often cannot afford bird insurance premium, which is almost equal to how much they earn.

Rajesh Karad, a poultry farmer, with his chickens that died during the cyclone

Dr Shyam Dhawan, director of M/s Premium Chick Feeds Pvt Ltd also had to incur heavy losses after he lost 50,000 birds. "The government needs to chip in and should understand the practical difficulties of the poultry farmers. With the damaged poultry farms, no power, water and the monsoon looming, shed repairs are going to take a long time. This means no income," Dr Dhawan said.

Rajesh Karad, who runs three poultry farms in Pen taluka, had two of his farms damaged, killing 900 birds. "At one of my poultry farms, the roof broke after a tree branch fell on it, and within hours, nearly three to four inches of water accumulated inside the farm, killing the chicken within minutes," said Karad, who too is extremely disappointed with the compensation of R5,000 per poultry farm. He incurred losses of close to R5 lakh due to the cyclone.

'Govt must be sympathetic'

Dr Mhaske, however, said that the animal husbandry department is still reaching out to certain places, which might have been missed due to logistical reasons. "As per the government GR, per poultry compensation is fixed at R5,000."

Another senior officer added, "We have been working here closely, and it is too little a sum coming towards the poultry farmers. The government needs to be sympathetic towards them."

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