March 29, 2006

 

India's poultry industry banking on star appeal to boost sales

 

 

Instead of gyrating to gleeful love tunes as in most Indian movies, Indian stars Nilu Phule and Asha Kale in the Indian state of Maharashtra have been roped in to sing the benefits of eating eggs and chicken meat, literally.

 

In a bid to lift the chicken industry out of current doldrums, the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) has enlisted the duo to produce a four-minute song that would be featured on cable networks in Maharashtra and later across the nation.

 

The hint of desperation was palpable. Without a tinge of irony, vegetarian Asha Kale, an actress of yesteryears, said she was participating in this effort as nearly 300,000 farmers depend on chicken farming for a living. Her compatriot, Nilu Phule, claimed he had been eating chickens since day one of the bird flu outbreak and is in excellent health himself.  

 

Medical practitioners were also recruited to extol the benefits of chicken meat and eggs. Speaking to the media, a panel of doctors gave their assurances that it was extremely safe to consume cooked chicken and eggs, with one even stressing that eating red meats regularly can cause cancer and another saying that with only 138 cases of bird flu globally, there is no need to be fearful. 

 

Their well-meaning efforts could prove to be an uphill climb if not a futile bid.

 

The state this week reported seven new cases of bird flu in the western state of Maharashtra in the Jalgaon district, the same district that reported outbreaks earlier this month.

 

The outbreak this time covers a larger area than the second outbreak in the Jalgaon district and all the birds in the district would have to be destroyed, said Bijay Kumar, animal husbandry commissioner of Maharashtra.

 

This means 250,000 birds, spread over some 200 villages would have to be culled.

 

The eighth case was confirmed across the state border in Burhanpur district in Madhya Pradesh.

 

Maharashtra's animal health minister Anees Ahmed said the positive samples were tested during routine surveillance following the second outbreak in Jalgaon and the time of infection was in close proximity to the time of the first outbreak.

 

Meanwhile, distraught farmers are demanding a compensation package from the government for the losses incurred during the bird flu outbreak.

 

They are also demanding free rice and maize from the Food Corporation of India for use as feed as they no longer have the resources to pay for them.

 

Other demands include writing off loans and converting short-term loans to long-term ones. Many farmers have lost their capital and are unable to keep their farms going, a representative said, adding that negative publicity has kept people away from poultry products while prices remained low.