November 21, 2012

Kerala, India, will end the ban on poultry imports from the state of Karnataka.

A government order was issued based on the recommendations of a technical committee that met to discuss whether the ban on poultry products from Karnataka should be lifted.

The Kerala government had banned the entry of poultry products from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on October 29 following the outbreak of avian influenza at the turkey farm maintained by the Central Poultry Development Organisation at Hesaraghatta. On November 5, the Kerala government lifted the ban on poultry products from Tamil Nadu.

"We are very happy with Kerala's decision to lift the ban on poultry products. The publicity on the outbreak of avian influenza has brought down eggs prices. We had incurred a huge loss for the last 24 days,'' said MP Sateesh, Mysore Zonal President, National Egg Coordination Committee.

Stating that poultry farms in and around Mysore were the worst affected due to the outbreak of avian influenza at turkey farms in Hesaraghatta, Sateesh said around 12 lakh eggs were being supplied to Kerala per day.

"Lifting of ban on the poultry products is good news for the poultry industry in Mysore. The supply of eggs will commence (again). I expect the supply of eggs to be more than 12 lakh since most of the poultry farms have lot of unsold eggs with them,'' he said.

According to him, the suppliers of eggs should carry certificates issued by doctors stating that poultry products are free from virus.