Bird flu costs million jobs in poultry sector
Friday, 25 March 2011
Jubair Hasan
Over one million people have been rendered jobless in recent months as avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, broke out in local poultry farms. Bangladesh Poultry Farm Protection National Council-a platform of the country's poultry farmers feared that the sector would face a big blow in coming days if the government does not handle the problem cautiously. General Secretary of the council Khandoker Mohammad Mohsin said the poultry farmers in June last year supplied 25 million eggs and 1.70 million kilograms of meat to local market. "Now the overall supply has come down to around 22 per cent because of the disease," he said, adding that the sector which created employment opportunities for millions of youths is facing a bleak future now. He complained that government steps were not enough to contain bird flu. Prices of chicken feeds are also high, Mohsin observed. "Some quarters recently proposed the livestock ministry to reduce the compensation to Tk 120 from Tk 200 per piece of affected chicken. The approval of such proposal will be another blow to the industry," he added. The government in January this year decided to provide Tk 200 for per piece of bird flu-affected chicken as compensation to the affected farmers so that they can minimise the loss. Poultry farmers feared that production of eggs and meat would decline by 50 per cent within June if the present trend continues and additional 1.50 million people who were directly and indirectly involved with the sector will lose their jobs. Shamim Hasan, a farmer of Jamalpur, who recently closed his business said: "I was forced to close my own farm as I could not bear the high costs." He said a large number of chickens were culled in his area because of the disease, giving a bad signal to other farmers. A third of the country's poultry farms were forced to shut down in the past two years due to inadequate government support for recovery after the bird flu outbreaks in 2008 across the country, another leader of the council said, adding that they will arrange an exhibition today (Friday) demanding special measure to save the sector.
Over one million people have been rendered jobless in recent months as avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, broke out in local poultry farms. Bangladesh Poultry Farm Protection National Council-a platform of the country's poultry farmers feared that the sector would face a big blow in coming days if the government does not handle the problem cautiously. General Secretary of the council Khandoker Mohammad Mohsin said the poultry farmers in June last year supplied 25 million eggs and 1.70 million kilograms of meat to local market. "Now the overall supply has come down to around 22 per cent because of the disease," he said, adding that the sector which created employment opportunities for millions of youths is facing a bleak future now. He complained that government steps were not enough to contain bird flu. Prices of chicken feeds are also high, Mohsin observed. "Some quarters recently proposed the livestock ministry to reduce the compensation to Tk 120 from Tk 200 per piece of affected chicken. The approval of such proposal will be another blow to the industry," he added. The government in January this year decided to provide Tk 200 for per piece of bird flu-affected chicken as compensation to the affected farmers so that they can minimise the loss. Poultry farmers feared that production of eggs and meat would decline by 50 per cent within June if the present trend continues and additional 1.50 million people who were directly and indirectly involved with the sector will lose their jobs. Shamim Hasan, a farmer of Jamalpur, who recently closed his business said: "I was forced to close my own farm as I could not bear the high costs." He said a large number of chickens were culled in his area because of the disease, giving a bad signal to other farmers. A third of the country's poultry farms were forced to shut down in the past two years due to inadequate government support for recovery after the bird flu outbreaks in 2008 across the country, another leader of the council said, adding that they will arrange an exhibition today (Friday) demanding special measure to save the sector.