Cyclone Tauktae deals fourth blow to Raigad poultry farmers in a year

Nandkumar Mayekar`s poultry farm was damaged and he lost thousands of birds

There seems to be no end to the sufferings of the poultry farm owners in Raigad district, the largest supplier of poultry in the state. In the past one year, they have been hit by back-to-back misfortunes, causing heavy financial losses.

It started last February when rumours about Coronavirus spreading from chicken and birds forced many owners to sell their poultry for as cheap as Rs 5 per kilogram, then the devastating cyclone Nisarga in June destroyed many poultry farms and killed thousands of birds. The bird flu scare hit them in January this year and now cyclone Tauktae wreaked havoc on their farms once again.

Cyclone left behind a trail of destruction at the poultry farms and killed many chickens and chicks as well. Now, with the absence of insurance cover and no support from the state government, the owners are worried about their fate. They were already struggling to find a market for their stock and dealing with massively hiked prices of basic soybean residue (soybean cake), which they use to feed to chicken. Its price has risen to Rs 70 from Rs 35.

Rajesh Karad, 45, from Pen in Raigad, said, "I had 9,000 birds on my poultry farm at Ambegaon, but I had to move them to my other farm at Amrapur village, about 7 km away, a day before the cyclone hit. I had to hire three vehicles and 13 men for the transportation, and in the process lost 50 birds. Last year, I incurred heavy loss when Nisarga caused structural damage to the poultry and killed thousands of birds."

Also Read: Maharashtra: Raigad bears the brunt as cyclone Tauktae howls past Mumbai towards Gujarat

On the hiked price of soybean residue, he said, "I would have to pay Rs 17.50 lakh [including GST of 5 per cent that was imposed recently] for a truck load of about 25 tonnes of soybean residue, which earlier cost just Rs 9 lakh. This would last only 15 days, which means I need to spend almost Rs 35 lakh a month only on the feed. Cost of maize has also gone up to Rs 19 per kg from Rs 16 per kg."

On top of that, the restriction on opening time, from 7 am to 11 am, is leading to losses as the business picks up only after 9 am to 10 am, Karad said, adding that despite the lockdown there is demand for chicken. He said the sale price of per kg of chicken has also increased to at Rs 75 from Rs 45 earlier.

Nandkumar Mayekar, a poultry farm owner from Cheaul village in Alibaug, incurred a loss of over 1 lakh. The cyclone damaged roofs of his farm, a part of which got filled with nearly 3 to 4 inches of rainwater and over 4,000 chickens and chicks died.

"We never imagined the pressure of gusty winds and heavy rainfall that would create a mayhem to an extent that huge trees get uprooted, roofs blown away and damages beyond expectation. At my poultry farm the roof broke after a branch fell on it, and within hours nearly 3 to 4 inches of water filled inside the farm, killing the chicken and chicks kept in one batch, within a few minutes." We are only into farming broiler chickens, which are very delicate to handle, even though each bird might be around 12 inch tall, they got scared with 4 inch of water, and some died of that fear. I had incurred loss of birds and poultry both," said the heartbroken farmer.

The animal husbandry officials inspected his poultry farm and have submitted a report to the higher authorities.

Kunal Pathre, a business partner in M/s KuKooChKu Poultry Farm in Alibaug, said they were spared this time. Last year's cyclone had killed 35,000 of their birds, he added. However, the lockdown has adversely impacted the poultry business, he said, adding that the government should provide financial aid if the Covid-19 curbs would continue.

Under the National Disaster Management Act, the government gives a compensation of merely Rs 5,000 per poultry, whereas farmers spend about Rs 300-Rs 400 per sq feet for construction of sheds, and each shed usually costs a few lakhs.

Karad said, "The government should at least remove the 5 per cent GST on the feed (which is about Rs 87,500 per truck of feed at present), and allow shops to open for longer hours in both morning and evening for sale to pick up."

Other side

Dr Subhash Mhaske, joint commissioner, Animal Husbandry, Konkan Region, said, "Two cows and 4,068 chickens were killed in the cyclone resulting in a loss of around Rs 6,49,240 in Raigad district, whereas two bullocks and two goats were killed in Ratnagiri district and the estimated loss is around Rs 67,000 and 1,350 birds and 40 chicks were killed in Sindhudurg of leading to a loss of about Rs 88,800. A report has already been submitted to the state government and district administration for record and compensation."

Mhaske added, "We have already made a request to the government for additional time slots for chicken shops, at least during the weekends. The proposal was to be mooted in the state cabinet and a decision is awaited."

Raigad district has around 2,500 poultry farms and an average of 35 lakh chicken are sold monthly for around Rs 5 to Rs 6 crore, which is the main source of income for families in poultry business, workers and even large companies, he said.

Mhaske further added, "We have already made a request to the government, requesting for giving some additional time slots for chicken shops, at least during the weekend. The proposal was to be mooted in the state cabinet, and a decision is awaited."

Guardian minister speaks

Aditi Thatkare, guardian minister of Raigad district, said, "Poultry is one of the largest source of livelihood for people in Raigad and we are equally concerned with the extent of losses that they had to incur, during Nisarga and even now in Tauktae. We have directed the concerned poultry officials under the Animal husbandry department to prepare a proper assessment report for the damages and losses. We are hopeful that the poultry farmers need to be compensated for their losses, and for this both the central and state government need to consider our request and ensure that they are compensated for the structural damages/loss, etc."

Also, we would request the central and state governments to either waive off or reduce the GST on the poultry feed, which is already going through a tough time, said Thatkare.

She added, "The state government decides on the extent of lockdown and timing of outlets, the district administration has no role in the same. However, we may put forward the request from the poultry farmers for extension of time, but the state needs to decide, as COVID-19 protocol is the need of the hour."