Poultry farmers and meat sellers suffering

PAKISTAN - Poultry farmers and chicken meat sellers suffered for the fifth consecutive day as chicken meat prices dropped to Rs 45-Rs 55 per kilogramme in various parts of the city and not much people were seen buying chicken, whereas mutton and beef sellers had quite a busy day.

Chicken meat was sold at Rs 45 per kilogramme in Shadbagh, Samanabad and the Walled City, Rs 50 in Township, Faisal Town, Rehmanpura, Wahdat Road, Mozang and Islampura and Rs 55 in Gulberg, Model Town, Garden Town, Allama Iqbal Town and Defence.

Former Pakistan Poultry Association chairman Masoodullah Sheikh told Dailay Times that he had suffered a huge loss over the last five days.

“My business was ruined because of bird flu rumours in 2004 and it took me a year to recover my losses,” said poultry farmer Raheem Khokhar.

“I used to sell more than 300 kilogrammes of chicken meat every day, but I managed to sell only 50 kilogrammes today,” said Talib Hussain, a wholesaler from Faisal Town. “People are no longer interested in buying chicken meat while commercial users are purchasing chicken, but in a very small quantity,” he added.

Owners of bakeries are also finding it difficult to sell products that include eggs and chicken meat. “People don’t ask for chicken patties or pastries because of the bird flu fear,” said Zeeshan, the owner of a bakery. Poultry products were safe to use since vaccines of poultry breeding stocks were in accordance with international health standards, said Pakistan Poultry Association Chairman Raza Mehmood Khursand at a press conference on the present status of bird flu.

“We are monitoring poultry farms and 12 government laboratories are working to diagnose the H5N1 virus in the country,” he said, adding, “The laboratories had examined more than 28,000 samples and not a single case of bird flu had been detected.” nauman tasleem

Source: Daily Times