August 3, 2007

Bird flu scare in India's Manipur hits egg exports to Middle East 

The bird flu outbreak discovered a week ago in the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur has affected the table egg exports from South India's Namakkal to a few Middle East nations.

Poultry farmers have started cutting back on egg production, and culling birds culling to bring down the bird population.

Exports of eggs from the region to Middle East countries have dropped 40 percent while exports to African countries remained unaffected. 

Consignments to Kerala in Southern India are subjected to strict inspections as the Namakkal region buys nearly 700,000 eggs daily.

On Thursday, the Namakkal zone of the National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) has announced a cut in the price of egg, from Rs 1.55 to Rs.1.40.

Cost of production is at Rs 1.48. The organization urged sellers not to go below Rs 1.30.

Tamil Nadu Poultry Association president R. Nallathambi told The Hindu that the bird flu scare was blown out of proportion. Farms are fully secure in the knowledge that all possibly bio-safety steps had been taken so far, he added.