ALAPPUZHA
It’s that time of year again when the ‘Kuttanadan’ duck finds a pride of place on dining tables in Kerala.
After going missing from most of the Christmas platters for two consecutive years following the outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza, the ‘Kuttanadan’ duck roast is set to tickle taste buds once more as duck farmers in Kuttanad and Upper Kuttanad are hoping for a revival of their fortunes this festive season.
Duck farming has not returned to pre-bird flu levels with several big farmers (those who used to rear a flock size of 2,000 or above) staying away or reducing their flock size due to the fear of avian flu striking again and funds crunch caused by the inordinate delay in getting the promised compensation from the government for last year’s outbreak.
However, farmers say that there are signs of revival with increasing demand for duck meat ahead of Christmas.
Binnychan Xavier, a seasoned duck farmer from Nedumudi in Kuttanad, returned to duck rearing with an eye on this Christmas season after skipping the practice last year following huge losses after bird flu struck his farm twice in 2021.
“This time I have reared 3,500 ducks. I am selling birds to wholesale dealers at ₹200 per duck. I sell birds (dressed) through my shop at ₹320. After a couple of tumultuous years, the sector is seeing some sort of revival,” says Mr. Xavier.
The Kuttanad region spread across Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam districts was hit by six bird flu outbreaks in the past nine years. The 2014 and 2016 outbreaks resulted in the death/culling of some eight lakh ducks.
After a period of lull, avian flu hit the region thrice between January 2021 and October 2022 killing another 2.50 lakh ducks. The latest bout of the disease, which was first detected at Vazhuthanam in Alappuzha, spread to other places with cases reported till early this year. It resulted in the death/culling of more than 80,000 birds, primarily ducks.
Before 2021, big duck farmers together with several small farmers used to grow between four and five lakh birds (mostly Chara and Chembally — two local breeds) a season.
B. Rajasekharan, president, Aikya Tharavu Karshaka Sangham, says it is not the case anymore. “The number of big duck farmers has dwindled drastically. Only around 50 remain in the region. This season, they have grown around 1.5 lakh birds, which is far less compared to the pre-bird flu times. In the meantime, the number of small farmers has increased, but the overall production will not reach anywhere near the previous times. Many duck farmers were forced to skip farming this time following a delay in getting compensation for the birds lost a year ago. There are no words to express the government’s apathy towards the sector,” says Mr. Rajasekharan.
Following the previous avian flu outbreaks, the government had given compensation of ₹200 for each bird above 60 days and ₹100 for birds below 60 days. Besides, ₹5 was given for each destroyed egg.
The Animal Husbandry department blamed the fund crunch for the delay in compensating the farmers.
