March 20, 2006

Indian minister proposes temporary shutdown of poultry industry
 

Maharashtra's Minister of State for Animal Husbandry Hassan Mushrif urged a three-month shutdown of poultry farms in Navapur in Nandurbar district to prevent bird flu recurrence, which has hit the poultry industry hard.

The state was hit twice by bird flu, the first time in Navapur in mid February and recently in Jalgaon.

It would be necessary to close poultry farms for three months to avoid recurrence of the outbreaks, he said.

The minister said compensation is being paid out to farmers for the recent culling of chickens, noting that poultry business has fallen by at least 80 percent in the state. The government is also working on other schemes to help poultry farmers.

Mushrif said the government understands that it has become more difficult to run poultry farms after the sale of chicken and eggs nose-dived in the aftermath of bird flu and sympathises with farmers facing financial problems.