OneWorld.net (U.S.)

NEW DELHI: It isn’t chicken feed. Bird flu is beginning to hurt as the Rs 28,000-crore poultry industry is turning out to be the first big casualty of the avian flu virus scare now spreading across the country.

On Monday, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Japan, Bahrain and the UAE banned poultry imports from India. With domestic demand also nose-diving, the poultry industry fears that losses could mount to over Rs 2,000 crore in the coming days. According to industry estimates, sales and exports have already been hit to the tune of Rs 50 crore since Saturday, when the news broke.

On Monday, shares of hatchery companies — like Venky’s (India), Srinivasa Hatcheries, Hind Industries and SKM Egg Products — slumped. Investors also sold farm-product makers and hotels, fearing a drop in revenues, and bought shares of drug firms, like Cipla and Ranbaxy, that may profit from sale of flu drugs.

India is the world’s fifth largest producer of eggs and the ninth largest producer of poultry broiler.

SOURCE: The Times of India