Gokarna Ghimire.The fear of bird flu has adversely affected the poultry industry of the country. It is estimated that the industry is losing a whopping Rs 5 million everyday due to declining confidence of consumers towards chicken products.

In his conversation with nepalnews.com, Gokarna Ghimire, president, National Poultry Farmer’s Association (NPFA), speaks about some vital aspects related to the impact of fear of bird flu on the country’s poultry business. Excerpts:

As the president of National Poultry Farmers’ Association, how do you opine the panic among people regarding the outbreak of bird flue in Nepal?

First of all, what I want to clear is that the mass media is trying to create terror amongst the people the bird flu virus has entered into other parts of the country including Kathmandu valley. The media reports are based on fallacious premise. The government announced the outbreak of bird flu in Jhapa district some days back. And if the epidemic had really spread to other areas including the capital city, the government would have already taken preventive measures like it did in Mechinagar Municipality of Jhapa district. Moreover, the concerned bodies have also made it clear that the disease has not spread to other parts of the country except Jhapa.

To what extent the poultry business has been affected?

In fact, the fear of bird flue has caused the poultry industry to witness a steep tumble of some 35 percent. The industry is losing about 5 million Nepali rupees every day. Prices and consumption rate of chicken products have gone down drastically. The downward spiral in the poultry business is affecting some sixty-five thousand households across the country. As many as a half million people who are directly or indirectly linked to the poultry farming are suffering from the brunt of bird flu. About 16 billion Nepali rupees have been invested in poultry industry and nearly 150,000 kg of chicken are produced every day in Nepal. If no action is taken towards dispelling the widespread fear of this disease, the industry is bound to face a debacle.

So, are the concerned entrepreneurs pressurising the government for any relief package to insulate the poultry business?

Yes, talks are going on in this regard. We have formed a separate committee and forwarded a seven-point demand to Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal to prevent the poultry industry from getting ruined. The demands include that the government should inform about every measure it is taking to cope with the menace of bird flue since it was detected in the country. We have requested him to dispel misleading rumours about the disease. Similarly, we have urged the concerned bodies to adopt a safe and scientific way in transportation of poultry products. The seven-point demand also urges the government to make arrangement to provide due compensation to those poultry farmers who have been hit hard by the epidemic. In a linear fashion, we have urged the government to keep strict surveillance on the imports of chicken products by way of taking required measures in quarantine check posts in the country. The seven-point demand also calls the government to rehabilitate the poultry industry for economic development of the country.

Do you have anything to convey to consumers of chicken products?

What I want to assure them they need not to be terrorized by unauthenticated media reports regarding the spread of bird flu. We poultry farmers are also serious about our responsibility towards the society in which we operate. We are also well aware about the fact that the supply of infected products in the market for the sake of only monetary benefit is wrong. nepalnews.com Jan 27 09