Bangladesh - Losses Due to Recent Poultry BF Infections

[sharon sanders]

Bird flu costs poultry
sector Tk 4,165cr: report
Helemul Alam Bird flu has caused an estimated loss of Tk 4,165 crore to the poultry sector in the country, said a report of the poultry industry coordination committee on Wednesday.

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The first case of avian influenza was detected in the country in March last year.
Of the total, highest loss of Tk 750 crore was estimated for day-old chick as farmers had to sell chicks with an average loss of Tk 15 each.
The production of day-old chick is now about 35 lakh per week which was around 65 lakh during the same period last year, he said.
Bird flu caused an estimated loss of Tk 725 crore to poultry eggs while Tk 500 crore to local chickens and ducks, he said, adding that farmers had to sell an egg at Tk 3 against production cost of Tk 4.25.
The loss caused to broiler chickens was estimated at Tk 700 crore as farmers were selling their chickens with an average loss of Tk 20 each, he added. The committee also estimated the loss of Tk 550 crore due to losing job of 15 lakh people while Tk 400 crore for bank interest.
There were about 1.80 lakh to 2 lakh poultry farms in the country with some 22 crore poultry. Nearly 50 lakh people were directly or indirectly involved in this sector, Moshiur said.
The government should come forward to save this booming sector taking various steps, including providing farmers with soft loan and block allocation.
He informed that around 6 lakh chickens were culled at about 200 poultry farms in 44 districts till Wednesday.

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Among the backward linkage, animal health product industries had been facing a loss between Tk 100 crore and Tk 150 crore due to reduction in number of poultry farms in the country, he said.


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http://www.newagebd.com/front.html#21

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Bangladesh - Losses Due to Recent Poultry BF Infections

Post Breakfast
Avian flu and the rural economy

Muhammad Zamir


THE past year has been an unmitigated disaster for the rural economy in Bangladesh. We have seen tens of millions of people affected first by the twin floods and then by the destructive cyclone Sidr. Unfortunately, the ravages of avian influenza have now further compounded the situation.


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wherever I went, one aspect was common -- economic depression and a growing sense of hopelessness.

Discussion with the village elders revealed anxiety and frustration with the steep rise in the cost of living, particularly food grains and sources of protein. It was also very evident that hundreds of small entrepreneurs who had taken up poultry farming as a source of living had been wiped out. Many spoke of having started their enterprises with funds received from relatives working abroad. Others mentioned that they had taken out loans from banks, micro-credit agencies or informal cooperative agencies. The ones that had obtained start up capital from remittances received from abroad appeared to be resigned to their fate. They hoped to start again, and not in the too distant future.

However, those who had secured money from financial institutions appeared to be very depressed. They spoke of a harsh future, of their inability to repay their loan after the culling of their poultry. Some remarked that they would have to take their children out of school and also sell off their remaining livestock. There were also discussions about how they could be forced to sell off their homesteads and then migrate to an uncertain future in the cities.


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It is fortunate that till today, we have not had human infections from the H5N1 virus (transmitted from an infected chicken, pigeon or duck). This has taken place in China as well as in Indonesia. However, there has been a drastic change in our dietary habit. There has been a clear decision among most people, particularly in (comparatively cash-rich) urban areas, to drop poultry and eggs from their diet.


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it has hit hard the common man -- both in terms of accessing to a cheaper source of protein and also in their effort to find additional income through a relatively small enterprise.

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it would be advisable to set up a SAARC committee charged with the responsibility of agreeing on preventive measures that can effectively deal with such situations.

It might also be useful to discover cheap vaccines that can be injected to stop the spread of such bird flu.

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Our government in the meantime should take more pro-active steps to re-vitalize the rural economy. This might be achieved by providing bank loans on cheaper interest structure, writing-off outstanding interest on loans given to small entrepreneurs in the affected areas (due to flood, cyclone or avian flu) and rescheduling loans. This will help to generate employment and other economic opportunities.

The latent savings in the rural areas have in most cases been wiped out.


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http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=25509