Price of chickens, both indigenous and those imported from Myanmar, has gone up following mass deaths of the birds due to an unknown disease. Veterinarians said that they had heard about the mass deaths at several places in the state. However in absence of formal complaints from poultry farmers, post mortems are yet to be done on the birds to establish the cause of death.
Reports say that price of broiler chicken had been hiked to Rs. 220 while that of the indigenous species had been increased to Rs. 270 per kg. Furthermore, transportation of chickens from Assam and other states has reduced due to general strikes and other forms of agitations by a few persons in support of their demands.
Farmers who have lost considerable amounts of money due to deaths of chicken said that in absence of a diagnosis and medicine they have no way out. Many of them are contemplating giving up poultry farming. Mynmar has been the major source of chickens and ducks due to the low cost of the the birds. However, following the outbreak of bird flu and other diseases, officials had banned import of table birds from that country.
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Meanwhile those who are running piggeries and other animal farms are facing problems due to shortage of water to feed the animals and clean the farms. Even people are facing problems as there is not enough water for drinking and washing. Government officials and the Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Ngamthang Haokip said that people should wait for the rains as there is no water source in the State.