Poultry biz goes haywire in Read’s Kendrapara

Kendrapara: With the lone chick-producing farm located inside the veterinary hospital here lying closed for the last 12 years, poultry business in Kendrapara district has slipped into the hands of big companies.

These big companies, who own or control everything except the farms, call the shots in the poultry business. Poultry meat is sold for around Rs 220-350 per kg in hundreds of shops spread across the district. However, poultry farmers have failed to make any gains as they earn only peanuts from the business due to large-scale interference of big companies. Despite the demand for poultry meat witnessing a sharp rise in the state, the farmers here have failed to reap any benefit.

In the absence of administrative control, the farmers have no way other than depending on these big companies for their survival. Owing to administrative apathy and lack of foresight, an incubator purchased for Rs 11 lakh and a generator to maintain uninterrupted power supply have been gathering dust with no effort being made for the revival of the defunct chick-producing centre established at an investment over Rs 1 crore.

As much as 97 per cent of the poultry meat consumed by people is produced by a farmer under contract with a big company. These poultry farmers are the last independent link in the company-owned supply chain. In this scenario, the company owns every link of a product’s supply chain from start to finish. This has happened as the state government has failed to regulate the big companies.

Sources said the state government is providing loans to women self-help groups (WSHGs) and youths to run poultry farms. Loans are provided through banks under its ambitious Mission Shakti scheme. This has encouraged women and youths to start poultry businesses. However, poultry farmers have been trapped by these big companies who are supplying them with poultry feeds, chicks and medicines. As a result, the farmers, instead of making profits, are facing losses. The situation has remained unchanged despite a rise in the price of poultry meat all over the state. This has disappointed those who have started poultry farms to earn a livelihood.

Poultry farmers Kalia Samantaray of Indupur, Subhasis Jena of Kansar village, Ramakant Mallick of Pakhar village and Sheik Hassan of Barimula village alleged that the state government has no role in regulating the market price of poultry products leaving the rein in the hands of the big companies. It is alleged that big traders from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and only a couple of local firms have monopolized the poultry trade in the state. The companies sign a contract with the independent farmers while the latter spend only on the construction of farms, houses, water and power supply and manpower required to run a farm. In exchange, they supply farmers with poultry feeds, chicks and medicines on time. After raising the chicks, the farmers get only Rs 3-5 per kg of poultry meat irrespective of the market price at that time as they cannot sell their products in the market directly.

Company employees collect the fully-grown chickens and sell them both outside and inside the state. These companies charge exorbitant prices for their products if the farmers are unwilling to sign an agreement with them. In such a scenario, poultry farmers have asked the state government to intervene and bail them out of this situation.

When contacted, Chief District Veterinary Officer (CDVO) Deepti Mohapatra said that the state government has launched various schemes providing subsidies for the benefit of the poultry farmers. They can enroll in these schemes and reap the benefit. However, no legal action can be taken as the farmers are entering into contracts with these big companies. However, efforts are on to revive the chick-producing centre, she added.