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| March 16, 2006 | Thursday | Safar 15, 1427 |
Poultry industry lost Rs3bn in one month: Bird flu scare
RAWALPINDI, March 15: Poultry farming, an important sub- sector of livestock, has suffered a loss of over Rs3 billion in one month due to reduction in prices as well as low consumption of poultry meat due to fear of bird flu in the country.
Speaking at a press conference at the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) on Wednesday, the Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) chairman, Raza Mahmood Khursand, said the bird flu virus did not exist in Pakistan and advised people to use poultry meat and eggs without fear.
Mr Khursand said all possible protective measures, including vaccination and disinfection of farms, had been adopted by the association. A false panic and fear created among the people is affecting the industry, he said.
According to Dr Hasan Sarosh Akram, a former chairman of Pakistan Poultry Association, there is no chance of bird flu in Pakistan now as the migratory season of birds was over.
He said out of 28,000 poultry farms in the country two in Abbottabad and Charsadda had been destroyed.
However, he said samples sent to the laboratory did not establish existence of H5H1. We are following the same procedure as being followed in the rest of the world, Dr Akram said.
Updating on the situation in Sindh, he said poultry farms in the province were free from H5 virus.
Dr Akram said poultry industry had made considerable contribution to food production and was playing a vital role in the economy of the country. The government, at this period of crisis, should take practical steps to save the poultry industry, the associated people and its allied industries. The fear of bird flu has increased the consumption of mutton, beef, fish, vegetables and cereals due to which price of these commodities had gone up.
Poultry production helps check prices of mutton and meat. Poultry production in Pakistan is an important part of agro industry and plays its role in food security of the country.
In Pakistan, consumption of poultry meat per person annually is 7kg against 25kg in developed countries. Similarly, an average Pakistani consumes 60 to 65 eggs per annum against 225 to 250 eggs in developed countries.
He demanded that the government should provide soft loans to poultry industry at 50 per cent markup to enable farmers to improve management and farm conditions with a view to increasing poultry meet production.
He said in order to improve poultry meat consumption, Marriage Ordinance should be amended and one dish allowed. He also demanded that duty on import of poultry farm feed, which was now between 15 to 25 per cent, should be waived. He urged the government to launch a media campaign to advise people to restart consumption of poultry meat and eggs since bird flu did not exist in the country.
In Pakistan, poultry industry produces 27 per cent of the total meat. According to statistics available on the Pakistan Poultry Association website, the industry employs 0.03 million people, produces and supplies 4,500 million eggs and about 450,000 metric tons of poultry meat.
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