India's Poultry Industry Faces Grim Projections of Rs. 22,500 Cr Loss, But Won't Stop the Slaughter

Since the news of the spread of the novel coronavirus in China hit the mainstream media, the first industry to suffer was the infamously linked Meat Industry.
Its obvious that customers understand that meat is not the best food option to stock up during a pandemic, they may stock up on all essentials like grains, fruits and snacks but meat didnot make it to the list. This sharp decrease in demand started when false information linked the consumption of chicken and eggs to coronavirus. “Rumours began doing rounds in the first week of February. Some people spread false information that chicken and eggs should not be consumed. The adverse impact continued for about six weeks" said Suresh Chitturi, Vice President of the All India Poultry Breeders Association. 
However, coronavirus may not be linked to poultry, but species spill over is still not out of question and even the World Health Organization clearly said in a situation report on SARS CoV 2 “the consumption of raw or undercooked animal products should be avoided. Raw meat, raw milk or raw animal organs should be handled with care to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods.” People understand the hazard that these products have of harbouring infectious disease and no amount of clarification can whitewash the real association of animal products with past virus outbreaks. 
The country’s total weekly production of broiler chicken is roughly 30 crore per month. At current plunge in market price to Rs 30-35/kg and production cost of Rs 75-80/kg, the loss comes to Rs 100 per bird or Rs 3,000 crore for a full month. Even the egg prices saw a drop from Rs 5 to Rs 3 per piece.  This is truly the cost of exploitation come back a full circle. Amidst these perilous situation, the All India Poultry Breeders Association asks the Central Government to bail out the industries.
The board requests the government to compensate Rs 100 for every chicken, but why should the government take any action when this coronavirus outbreak is affecting all industries alike. Some are more impacted while others are less. Should these industries not scale down their production to minimize their losses like all industries have rather than ask governmental support of tax payer money to keep their production levels same?
This is not just the case of India but across the world, Animal Factory Farms are closing down after becoming hotspots for spread of virus, and countries across the world saw a spike in sale of vegan meat, In the US, vegan meat sales rose by 280%. Amidst this chaos, humanity is waking up to realise that our choices are not sustainable after all, and if we are to co-exist on this planet and avoid future pandemics, we must not just reduce our interaction with wildlife but also change our lifestyle, one which causes minimum harm to the eco-system.
 

Featured Image Source: The Indian Express

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