Srinagar, June 21: In a major concern, the Valley-based poultry farmers today alleged that unvaccinated day old chicks were being pumped into the Valley.
 The farmers said the “free flow of the unvaccinated chicks” has shot up the mortality rate among the poultry birds in the Valley.
 According to them, one of the main reasons behind the ever increasing prices of chicken is high mortality rate among the birds due to their being unvaccinated.
 “We are incurring huge losses as many birds die.   We have no hatchery in the state. We are dependent on the supply from outside. How can we earn profits when the mortality rate among the chickens is high,” Adil Ahmad, a poultry farmer asked.
  “We appeal to authorities to conduct test of day old chicks being brought from other states to the Valley. Let the authorities ensure that only vaccinated chicks are allowed into the Valley,” he said.
 The poultry farmers said that government should keenly look into the issue. “Poultry is a big industry which employs thousands of educated youth in the Valley. It is time the government looked seriously into the issue and put a ban on the import of unvaccinated chicks into the Valley,” they said.
 Meanwhile, the poultry farmers said the state government should give industry incentives and benefits to them.
 “This is a risky venture. At times the poultry farmers suffer huge losses because of various reasons. The government come to our help and provide us incentives so as to protect this industry,” they said.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 21 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 22 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST