The chicken & egg question

Households in the city are wary of consuming poultry due to bird flu scare in A.P.

his month many non-vegetarians in the city seem to be staying away from poultry products for two reasons — the summer heat and health concerns due to bird flu in Andhra Pradesh.

While the demand from households has fallen by 20-30 per cent, the price of chicken has been on the rise for the past few days.

Traders say dip in poultry production and continuing demand from hotels are keeping the price on the higher side.

According to retailers, supply has not been affected because of problems in the neighbouring State. The 47-day trawling ban in Tamil Nadu has pushed fish prices and increased demand for poultry. At present, one kg of chicken is priced between Rs. 160 and Rs. 200.

S. Thyagarajan, a resident of Mylapore who used to eat chicken dishes on alternate days, said he has now switched over to fish and mutton.

“I buy less quantity of both, however, as they are costlier than chicken. I will wait till the bird flu scare dies down before going back to poultry,” he said.

Chennai gets its supply of chicken mostly from places like Palladam, Namakkal, Vellore and Erode. About 20 per cent of the supply comes from Andhra Pradesh.

Shabeer Ahmed, State president of Tamil Nadu All Meat Traders Federation, said normally, poultry breeding decreases during summer as it is scorching hot.

“Only 10 per cent of the supply is country chicken procured from Tiruvallur and Tiruvannamalai. The heat makes it difficult for poultry farmers to produce broilers of the desired weight. So, the price increases,” he said.

The problem of bird flu in Andhra Pradesh has not affected the trade here, however, as most poultry products are sourced from Tamil Nadu itself, said Mr. Ahmed.

However, egg consumption has gone down. Egg and poultry wholesaler M.V. Somaraman of Chintadripet blames it on the avian flu scare.

“The holidays are here and at least 20 per cent of the city’s population is out of town. Also, general consumption of eggs has gone down as people are changing dietary patterns,” he said. Egg prices in the city vary between Rs. 3.25 and Rs. 4.50 per egg.