The National Highway towards Jammu and Kashmir has been blockaded by agitators over Amarnath Shrine land row for over a month. Not only has it had an adverse impact on the tourism to the hilly state but it has also disrupted the poultry industry in Punjab, which is main supplier of chicken and eggs to the region, reports The Hindu.

Usually, more than 100 loaded trucks of poultry products flow daily to the neighbouring states but since highway has been blocked, all products had to be supplied to the state market, which caused steep decline in the rates on the simple basis of supply and demand pattern, according to Sukhwinder Singh, owner of one of the retail outlets of chicken in the city.

Even in the retail market of Jalandhar, chicken that used to be sold at 110 rupees (INR) per kilo was being sold at meager INR65 to 70, Mr Singh said. He added that as the poultry products cannot be stored for a long time, farmers had no option other than to supply the products for local consumption.

If the situation continues for another week, he predicted that the prices for poultry products are likely to decline further.

Poultry consumers are benefiting from the situation.