Poultry farmers in a fix

The ban on the sale of chicken in Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, and Alappuzha districts has put poultry farmers in a fix.

Baiju Kadavan, president of the Kerala Poultry Farmers Association, said nearly three lakh people were directly dependent on poultry farming in the State and with the ban on the movement and sale of poultry, large numbers of chicken remained stockpiled in the farms.

Poultry farming was concentrated mainly in the district of Palakkad and Malappuram, and with the continuing crisis in the rubber sector, increasing number of small growers in Kottayam and Pathanamthitta had also turned to the poultry sector.

Sales had dipped all over the State and the authorities had banned the movement of poultry. The police and Animal Husbandry authorities were enforcing a strict ban on the functioning of chicken shops, he said.

“This has created a situation where we are left with a huge stockpile of poultry. And we are being taxed on the basis of a fixed price of Rs.95 a kg for the chicken,” he said. He said they were ready to allow the government to take over the stock and pay them at the rate fixed by the government.

The increased stock would also affect the preparation of the stock for the most remunerative Christmas season, he pointed out.