Over the past month or so, there have barely been many sales at Select Poultry, a chicken outlet at Nandini Layout. Rafiq, who runs the outlet, claimed that many of his regular customers had stopped buying chicken, mostly after the cases COVID-19 positive cases were reported in the city. In another part of the city, at a V.B. Tender Fresh outlet in Horamavu, chicken is being sold at ₹210 to ₹220 a kg. Sunita V., who runs the outlet, said the supply had reduced quite a bit. She, however, said demand for ready-to-eat varieties was still high.
While this is slowly changing among consumers owing to increased awareness on COVID-19, unfounded fear and rumours that novel coronavirus spreads through meat has impacted not just consumption, but also the poultry sector. Supply has reduced by nearly 40%. The shortage is likely to continue till May, according to the Karnataka Poultry Farmers and Breeders’ Association.
K.S. Ashok Kumar from the association told The Hindu that problems for the poultry sector started in February. “The situation worsened after the lockdown was announced. Many poultry farmers and breeders have reported a 100% loss in working capital,” he said.
The sector has been incurring losses consecutively over the past six weeks. Many farmers and breeders had stopped placing chicks for production. “This means that the available stock will soon run out. The shortage may extend up to the second week of May,” he claimed.
e-commerce suppliers are also feeling the shortage. “It’s like a lottery. Sometimes, I get chicken and otherwise it’s out of stock. I keep checking the app almost every two hours,” said Anjana, a resident of Fraser Town.
While the price of chicken in the many outlets across the city ranged between ₹160 to ₹220 a kg, the rates on e-commerce sites were in the range of ₹225 to ₹280 a kg.
Demand slowly rising
After the lockdown was announced, there were problems in getting soya meal and maize for making chicken feed. “We approached Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan to allow trucks transporting soya and maize. Only after it was allowed, farmers begun operations,” Mr. Kumar said.
According to association president Sushanth Rai, demand is slowly picking up. “The demand had reduced what with many hotels, eateries and restaurants closed and restrictions on events. But people are now realising that poultry has nothing to do with the virus and is in fact a cheap source of protein,” he said. Conceding that there was panic selling by farmers and breeders initially, the production has just started to pick up. “The sector has incurred huge losses. We have written to the Union government seeking relief,” he added.
