Bird flu scare prompts fall in poultry business

Ratnanagar (Chitwan), Aug. 14: Poultry production declined by 40 percent in Chitwan in the wake of the bird flu outbreak in the district. Chitwan District has the largest poultry business in the country.

The downfall in poultry business in the district is attributable to the spread of bird flu in the district some months back and in various other districts of the country, including in Kathmandu these days, said Dr Tilchandra Bhattarai, a poultry farmer who is also the President of the Chitwan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Bhattarai said that more than 24 poultry farms in the district have closed and the existing ones too have not been able to produce chicks. He said the poultry farmers cannot continue their business amidst greater risk.

It is said the poultry business in Chitwan is worth 30 billion rupees with an annual transaction of more than 50 billion rupees. There are more than 400 large poultry farms in Chitwan district.

Bhattarai said that poultry farmers incurred a loss of more than Rs 250 million in chickens culled and poultry products destroyed. He said 71 thousand chickens were culled by the authorities at 15 farms in the district in the wake of the bird flu outbreak. RSS