Indian poultry sales decline after Corona virus scare |
Following speculations that chickens have been the cause of spread of Coronavirus in China, India`s poultry industry has lost business of more than $182 million in three weeks, denting demand for chicken and nearly halving prices. Millions of small poultry farmers have been hit by a sudden drop in sales. Soybean and corn producers are also being affected with prices of both the commodities, used in animal feed, have fallen up to 8% in the last three weeks. While the disease has infected more than 70,000 people in China and killed at least 1,770 there, only three confirmed cases have been reported in India. However, rumours that coronavirus can be transmitted through chickens have appeared on the social media platforms in India prompting the authorities to issue a statement last week that eating chicken is safe. Indian state of Maharashtra has even called for the police to act against anyone spreading the rumours. "Many people stopped eating chicken believing the rumours. Chicken prices have crashed due to an abrupt drop in demand. Broiler chicken prices have fallen to 35 rupees a kg from around 70 rupees in January. The industry has been losing 120 million rupees per day due to lower prices.
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