April 27, 2006	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 28, 1427

KARACHI, April 26: Pakistan’s poultry industry is estimated to have suffered Rs9 to 10 billion loss in the last two months on account of declining sales due to the outbreak of bird flu in some farms in Northern Areas in February followed by detection of the virus in poultry farms in Islamabad last week.

The entire industry has been in the grip of crisis for the last two months and the sales of live bird, though much below average, have been fluctuating owing to change in consumers’ behaviour vacillating between their confidence in white meat and the bird flu scare.

In the middle of last month, poultry traders were hopeful as the consumers started showing signs of confidence again. The sector at that point decided to raise the price by Rs12 per kg owing to rising demand but the detection of virus in poultry farms around the federal capital and reports about shifting of three persons infected by the virus to the hospital have reverted the situation.

Central Chairman Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA), Raza Mehmood Khursan told Dawn from Lahore that the losses to the industry had been rising with every passing day.

The report about the outbreak of bird flu in Islamabad has virtually plunged the white meat sales by 50 per cent. Ahead of Islamabad incidence, poultry sales had either been recovering or showing mixed trends.

He said that the people in the industry had virtually stopped keeping day old chicks in their poultry farms. Many small and medium sized farmers have either switched over to other businesses after selling their farms or have gone into real estate business.

He said the central executive committee of the PPA met on Wednesday in Lahore to ascertain the situation arising out from the bird flu virus besides, chalking out a strategy to prevent the outbreak in other parts of the country.

Khursan said that the government had been too lethargic in releasing the vaccines to the farmers. The government has pledged to provide vaccines by May 5, to the farmers so that birds available in the farms in the vicinity of five km around Islamabad could be vaccinated in order to prevent the outbreak of bird flu in other farms.

The industry is facing problems due to the looming panic and fear among consumers over the use of white meat, although the WHO report clearly indicates safety measures for consuming chicken.

He said that government should come out with a rescue plan for the poultry industry by allowing one dish at the wedding parties so that people could freely consume white meat.

General Secretary Karachi Wholesale Poultry Association (KWPA), Kamal Akhtar Siddiqui, said that the poultry meat was selling under cost by Rs15 per kg due to the persistent decline in demand from the consumers. Even in Karachi, around 200,000 broiler live birds are being slaughtered daily as compared to 350,000-400,000 birds earlier.

He added that the poultry price had been slashed by Rs10 to Rs44 on April 24 from Rs54 on April 20 last week owing to the thin demand. He said in many areas retailers were now offering discount in order to lure more consumers besides recovering their past losses.

By April 13, poultry bird was selling at Rs48 per kg and farmers raised the prices to Rs58 on April 17 owing to rising demand from the consumers.

He said that birds’ sales to hotels and restaurants had also been hit but the owners of hotels had not passed the benefit of the reduced price on to the consumers. They are charging higher prices which were prevailing ahead of bird flu scare.

To a query how many farmers have packed up their business, he said he could not give the exact numbers but people in this industry had started switching to other businesses after sustaining huge losses.

The industry has suffered Rs5 to 7 billion losses from February 22 to the last week of March, but it has gained pace further in the next one month, he added.

He said the day old chicks’ price had also fallen to Rs2 to 3 from Rs11 prior to the virus outbreak in various farms near Islamabad. Many farm owners have suspended putting the new chicks in their farms.