Poultry farmers in Raigad left high and dry after cyclone

For the poultry farm owners in Raigad district the troubles do not seem to end Rumours about COVID19 being spread through poultry chicken and birds hampered their business first with poultry owners selling one chicken for as low as R5 per kg causing them heavy financial lossesBy the time the rumour disappeared and business was just about picking up Cyclone Nisarga devastated their poultry farms on June 3 damaging the sheds and killing thousands of broiler chickens along with a few kadaknath chicken known for its nutritional valuesRaigad being a major supplier of broiler chicken to Mumbai the damage in the district will certainly have an impact on the supply of chicken to Mumbai and neighbouring areas Prices are also likely to go up by 1015 per cent in the retail marketDr Subhash Mhaske deputy director Animal Husbandry department Raigad said The entire district has around 2500 poultry farms and on an average the monthly sale goes up to 35 lakh chicken costing around R5 to R6 crore It is the main source of livelihood for many families here and also employs people in larger poultries While the Animal Husbandry department has estimated loss of bird lives at 37950 in the entire district it has cost a financial loss of R1925 lakh Poultry farmers however believe that the number could be higherAccording to Dr Mhaske Pali town has witnessed a large number of poultry deaths at 11600 birds loss of R6 lakh followed by Alibaug 11450 birds and loss of R580 lakh and Pen 6500 birds and loss of R325 lakhMajor loss for poultry farmersKunal Pathre a business partner in familyrun Ms KuKooChKu Poultry Farm in Alibaug established in 1989 said This is the firstever disaster that has impacted all poultry farmers across the district so much Around 250 poultry farmers buy chicks from us and we pay them R12 per bird for a 42day period to develop them from a chick to a fullgrown chicken A poultry farmer invests in the poultry infrastructure including sheds lights feeds vaccine workers etc for this purpose The fullgrown chicken is then sold to the wholesaler at R100 present rate who sells them to a retailer and the consumer gets it at R200 The major loss is for poultry farmers who often take financial assistance for infrastructure costs said Pathre who lost over 30000 birds in the cycloneCant afford insuranceEach affected poultry farmer is entitled to a compensation of R5000 per poultry This is like rubbing salt on our wounds The farmers have to spend R300 per sq feet for construction of sheds and each shed usually costs a few lakhs Pathre said adding that farmers often cannot afford bird insurance premium which is almost equal to how much they earnRajesh Karad a poultry farmer with his chickens that died during the cycloneDr Shyam Dhawan director of Ms Premium Chick Feeds Pvt Ltd also had to incur heavy losses after he lost 50000 birds The government needs to chip in and should understand the practical difficulties of the poultry farmers With the damaged poultry farms no power water and the monsoon looming shed repairs are going to take a long time This means no income Dr Dhawan saidRajesh Karad who runs three poultry farms in Pen taluka had two of his farms damaged killing 900 birds At one of my poultry farms the roof broke after a tree branch fell on it and within hours nearly three to four inches of water accumulated inside the farm killing the chicken within minutes said Karad who too is extremely disappointed with the compensation of R5000 per poultry farm He incurred losses of close to R5 lakh due to the cycloneGovt must be sympatheticDr Mhaske however said that the animal husbandry department is still reaching out to certain places which might have been missed due to logistical reasons As per the government GR per poultry compensation is fixed at R5000Another senior officer added We have been working here closely and it is too little a sum coming towards the poultry farmers The government needs to be sympathetic towards themCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news