The Hindu Business Line : More States may ban poultry traffic

Hyderabad, Feb. 7 The poultry industry in Andhra Pradesh, which has taken a beating following the bird flu issue and the subsequent ban on poultry movement in West Bengal, sees a bigger crisis in the form of similar restrictions being planned by Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh Governments.

The ban could lead to sharp increase in the prices of egg and broiler chicken in Mumbai in the next few days, farmers here predict.

Andhra Pradesh sends nearly 50 lakh eggs to Maharashtra every day. Sudden stoppage could trigger the price hike.

Though the ban notifications would not mention the name of any State, Andhra Pradesh is going to be the biggest sufferer of such restrictions. Of the 5.5 crore eggs the State produces, 1.40 crore eggs go to West Bengal and North-East, and another 1.30 crore lakh to the central and northern States.

Worried, a delegation comprising Mr Kasireddy Narayana Reddy, President of AP Poultry Farmers Federation, Mr D. Rami Reddy, President of Poultry Breeders Association, and Mr K.G. Anand, General Manager of Venkateshwara Hatcheries, met the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, to ask him to take up the issue.

They asked the Chief Minister to talk to Mr Sharad Pawar, Union Agriculture Minister, and Mr Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Maharashtra Chief Minister, and persuade them to lift restrictions on poultry movement. The poultry industry in the State, which produces one-third of country’s eggs, could withstand the West Bengal crisis for two weeks, backed by undiminished local consumption.

“But the ban by Maharashtra and other States would be too hard to take,” Mr Narayana Reddy said.

Addressing a press conference after meeting the Chief Minister, he said there was no absolute problem either in Maharashtra or in Andhra Pradesh. “There is no rationale behind the ban,” he argued.

Mr Subba Raju, Chairman of NECC (National Egg Coordination Committee, Andhra Pradesh), said that local traders lobby might have brought pressure on Maharashtra to impose the ban on poultry traffic.

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