The poultry business in Dimapur has been severely affected with traders saying the chicken, which they usually import from places like Bokajan, Siliguri and Tinsukia, have not been arriving into the city of Dimapur, and that the market has gone without chicken for the past four to five days. Dimapur is the capital of the district of the same name in the state of Nagaland in north-east India.

According to Morung Express, restaurant owners say that they have to travel to Lahorijan to buy the broiler chicken to be served to customers. Poultry traders in the New Market area say that they have ordered the poultry stock; however, these have not arrived yet due to shortage in the towns of Assam and West Bengal.

However, a closer look into the shortage of chicken in the market revealed that the traders are not satisfied with the prices of chicken meat, which the Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) fixed on 24 June. The DMC had fixed the rate of broiler chicken at 90 rupees (INR) per kilo while the price of Kroiler and Layer were fixed at INR 110 per kilo after "assessing the rates in the neighbouring towns like Lahorijan, Bokajan and Diphu in Assam".

The chicken went out of the market only after the DMC had fixed the price of broiler, kroiler and layer chicken in the market recently. Earlier also, the traders were heard complaining that the DMC price was very less and that they were not earning any profit. "We have given a complaint letter to the DMC on June 24 itself, the day they revised the rates," said a poultry trader in New Market.

A poultry trader in Dimapur New Market said that the price of broiler at INR 90 is too less since the cost of buying the chicken at wholesale rate and transportation charges comes to Rs.96. “We are selling at a loss of INR6," said the trader. However, he said that the shortage of chicken is due to the non-arrival of broiler chicken from places like Bokajan and other places. However, he expressed his hope that the stock would arrive tomorrow and said that the chicken would be available in the market from today. Even dealers in the supermarket, the dealers in New Market informed, have stopped the sale of chicken due to shortage of stock.

"If we don't do this business, then what we will eat?" he reasoned, while informing that the poultry traders have written a complaint to the DMC to look into the price of chicken.

A DMC staff attached with rate control, however, asserted to Morung Express that the revised market price of the DMC is the main reason for the dealers to stop the sale of chicken in the markets.

"As compared to other nearby towns like Lahorijan the price of chicken in Dimapur is very low," the DMC staffer confirmed. However, he informed that the municipal could has started to receive some representations from the poultry dealers for hiking the price of chicken; he added that the price will be hike naturally since the dealers also cannot run at a loss and sell the product at a price lesser than the wholesale price.

A poultry dealer in Lahorijan, Assam, divulged that the wholesale price of broiler is INR 92, while the retail price is INR 105 to 110. He said that the price is set to increase since there is shortage of chicken in the market. Even the price of the food fed to the chicken has risen to INR 1700, which is affecting the market of poultry, he said.

The Morung Express article added that the poultry industry the world over has been severely affected ever since the reports of the deadly bird flu disease surfaced, and with the fear of a recurrence of the flu still looming, the poultry industry is going through a bad phase while poultry farmers and dealers incur heavy losses.