Govt pays Rs 231.7m in bird flu compensation

KATHMANDU, JAN 08

The government has provided a total of Rs 231.7 million in compensation to poultry farmers hit by bird flu this year. 

The avian flu outbreak during mid-July to mid September period affected farmers from 12 districts. Besides three districts in the Kathmandu valley, the districts that were hit hard were Sindhuli, Makwanpur, Chitwan, Kaski, Kavrepalanchok and Rupandehi.

According to Regional Directorate of Livestock Services (RDLS), Kathmandu, 538 farmers in Bhaktapur received Rs 134.3 million, 237 poultry producers in

Kathmandu received Rs 41.9 million, while 24 farmers in Lalitpur got Rs 489.6 million. In Kavrepalanchok, 51 farmers were provided Rs 43.6 million, while farmers from Makwanpur got 1.29 million.

According to the RDLS, more than 1.76 million of chickens and roosters were culled in these districts. In addition, the government also destroyed over 2.65 million eggs, 134,487 kg feed and 1,407 kg meat. 

In the valley, 90 percent of poultry products were destroyed, RDLS Director Damodar Sedhai said.

Bird flu has come as a setback to the poultry sector which has largely been self-reliant so far. 

Following the outbreak, the government had put ban on sales of poultry products by declaring bird flu emergency in severely affected areas of the valley. A special team was deployed to keep farms under surveillance. The government had lifted the ban on poultry sales in the valley from December 18, 2013.

According to RDLS, the avian influenza has been appearing time and again for the last six years. 

Over the period, the disease appeared 215 times. So far, the government has culled more than 1.96 million chickens and fowls, 3.05 million eggs, 172,181 kg feed and 155,550 kg meat.

Sedhai said the symptom of avian flu in the last six years appeared differently. 

He said the government has started a detailed study on six different diseases on animals, including the bird flu , which could be transmittable to humans

Directive on poultry farming

Regional Directo-rate of Livestock Service said on Tuesday it is preparing a directive on poultry farming, which will have different standards for different varieties of chickens. Director Damodar Sedhai said following the introduction of the directive, those involved in commercial farming of broiler and layers chicken will have to maintain specific, but different standard. “The measure is being taken to prevent possible transmission of diseases from one category of chickens to another. It has been found that the types of bird flu in different categories of chickens have been different.” (PR)

Source: The Kathmandu Post