chickens

coronavirus

WhatsApp

Uddhav Ahire

Nashik

Prasanna Pedgaonkar

Poultry Breeders Welfare Association

India’s poultry industry has lost Rs 1,300 crore in three weeks after false speculation on social media thatare a cause of the spread of, denting demand for chicken and nearly halving prices, say industry officials.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 falling up to 8% in the last three weeks.Rumours that coronavirus can be transmitted through chickens have appeared on themessage platform in India prompting the authorities to issue a statement last week that eating chicken is safe.Maharashtra has called for the police to act against anyone spreading the rumours.“Many people stopped eating chicken believing rumours spread on WhatsApp,” said, chairman of Anand Agro Group, a poultry company based in. “Chicken prices have crashed due to an abrupt drop in demand.”Broiler chicken prices have fallen to Rs 35 a kg from Rs 70 in January, he said, adding that farmers are still losing money as broiler prices are hovering at Rs 40 per kg.Clarifications issued by the authorities appear to have allayed some fears, with sales starting to gradually improve, said, general manager of poultry-focused Venky’s, which has seen its shares slide more than 20% in the last month.“Sales are not fully recovered. It will take time to go back to normal,” he said, adding that small and medium farmers are struggling to absorb losses.Vasant Kumar Shetty, president of thein Maharashtra, said: “The industry has been losing Rs 12 crore per day due to lower prices.”