NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday posed an interesting question to the Arvind Kejriwal government: If trucks carrying ice and eggs to Delhi are exempt from paying green levy, why not extend the same benefit to those transporting chicken?

The question arose in a case filed by New Haryana Poultry Association, which through senior advocate Mahavir Singh argued that the Delhi government's notification of October 30, 2015 had exempted trucks carrying essential commodities, including vegetables, fruits, milk, petroleum products, ice and eggs, to the capital from paying environment compensation cess (ECC).

Under the proposed programme, 150 birds are to be distributed in a focused manner in five or six villages or a cluster in one block of a district of the State, said a release issued by the agriculture ministry of India.The major focus of the programme will be to increase entrepreneurial activity in the poultry sector.

On the basis of the review of the ongoing poultry development schemes targeting the small and marginal farmers, state governments were advised to design sustainable projects specifically for this category of farmers

Panaji: The much-awaited order to lift the ban on poultry supply from Karnataka was recently issued by the office of the collector and district magistrate, South Goa. Copies of the same were circulated among poultry stakeholders on Monday.

"The director of animal husbandry and veterinary services has reported that the joint commissioner, animal husbandry, WRDDL, Pune, has permitted the commencement of movement of poultry and poultry products from Karnataka to Goa," the letter read.

Hundreds of state poultry farmers are suffering losses following the ongoing unrest in the Kashmir valley. Besides, the owners of hotels and dhabas along the Pathankot-Jammu road have also witnessed a dip in their trade.

A majority of these traders are finding it difficult to meet their daily expenses. Poultry farmers are resorting to distress sale of eggs and chicken, while the flow of truck traffic from Punjab to J&K as measured at the Madhopur excise check point has decreased from 800 trucks daily to 300 trucks.

BELAGAVI: With the Goa government continuing its ban on poultry products from Karnataka, the poultry industry in the state, especially in Belagavi, Dharwad and Vijayapura districts, are suffering huge loss.

The ban was clamped on July 21, taking note of the detection of bird flu virus at Humnabad in Bidar district in May. Karnataka government took swift action by culling affected birds and carrying out a vaccination drive. It also declared Bidar a bird flu-free district.

As the fly menace continues to trouble residents of Barwala and other surrounding villages, Deputy Commissioner Garima Mittal passed strict directions to poultry farm owners to follow necessary guidelines or face closure notices.

A meeting was held by the district administration with sarpanches of villages in Barwala and Raipur Rani and representatives of poultry farm associations at Mini-Secretariat here on Thursday.

En-masse death of over a thousand chickens at a poultry farm in a seaside village triggered panic with the locals suspecting the death to be an outbreak of bird flu.

“Around 1,100 birds including chicks died during the past one week. After the deaths were reported to us by the farm owner Bankim Majhi, we rushed to the poultry farm. After sounding an alert, the bodies of chickens were subjected to laboratory test at the district veterinary college,” Chief District Veterinary Officer (CDVO), Chaitanya Charan Sethy said.

Dr. Sujit Kulkarni, Managing Director, BIOMIN India, was present with his team at the awards ceremony to receive the honour. “We are extremely proud to receive this award from the Indian Poultry Journalist Association. Our team has worked very hard over the years, and the award is testament to our continuous efforts, with the aim of providing the highest level of customer service. It is indeed a humbling experience for us; we are committed more than ever to providing our best service and solutions to our customers and the market,” says Dr. Kulkarni.

Panaji: The state department of animal husbandry and veterinary services will allow the resumption of poultry import from Karnataka to Goa, as they have received an e-mail from the Pune laboratory saying it is safe to do so. Officials are awaiting the district magistrate's order to lift the ban which was imposed in the state in July.

The local poultry industry has fought against all odds and proved to be self-sufficient during the ongoing unrest by supplying local production of chicken into the markets at cheapest possible rates.

According to Ghulam Muhammad, President of Kashmir Valley Poultry Farmers Association almost 80 per cent of the chicken sold in the Valley during last one month has come from local production.

New Delhi August 15: Animals in factory farms and laboratories are deprived of the ability to engage in many natural behaviours, and are intensively confined in cages and crates so small they cannot even turn around. The physical barriers that ensure their confinement are in fact reminders of the greed that makes people place profits above the welfare of animals, and doesn’t allow them even the most basic freedoms.

Thiruvananthapuram: Ever given some serious thoughts about the chicken in your sandwich or the roasted chicken curry in your kid's lunch box? The Kerala State Poultry Development Corporation (Kepco) is urging people to have second thoughts on broiler chicken that has become part of their daily meals.

Panaji: Goa’s ban on poultry coming in from Karnataka may be due for a review shortly with the animal husbandry department planning to write to the Pune-based Western Region Disease Diagnostic Laboratory on the need for it.The ban was imposed after the WDDL cautioned the department against importing poultry from Karnataka due to bird flu cases reported in that state.

By coating paper trays with a mixture of silver nanoparticles and binders, scientists at the Chennai-based Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) have been able to increase the shelf life of eggs by at least 14 days. This was possible by using silver nanoparticle-coated paper trays that killed both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria found on egg shells. The results were published on June 7 in the journal Bulletin of Materials Science.

There’s a hue and cry about the soaring price of pulses, the primary source of protein for Indian vegetarians. But non-vegetarians, or more precisely eggitarians, too, don’t have it easy. Prices of their key protein source have been hitting record levels in recent months, with retail egg prices in some pockets of the country topping a record ₹5 this July. Domestic egg prices seem set to soar even higher in the coming months.

NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over the cruelty of keeping egg-lying hens in wire cages in poultry farms, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to implement the rules recommended by Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) soon. A bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur was shocked to hear as to how the chicken is transported to the butcher in cages and said, “It is a cruelty to keep five birds in a cage which was meager space of 450 sq cm space for each bird.”

With egg production expected to due to contamination in feed ingredients, poultry farmers were asked to test feed ingredients for mycotoxin and use toxin binder in feed accordingly.

A press release from Agromet Field Unit of Veterinary College and Research Institute and Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai said that the sky will be generally cloudy with chance of isolated drizzling in the next two days. Maximum and minimum temperature will be around 35 degree Celsius, and 24 degree Celsius respectively.

PUNE: Retail prices of chicken may not see a drastic fall in August even though demand is expected to be weak given that the period coincides with the Hindu holy month of Shravan during which many believers give up non-vegetarian food.

Industry executives, however, say prices will remain under pressure and to avoid losses like in the previous year, chicken producers plan to cut output by 30-35%. Chicken producers and farmers had suffered huge losses last year because of over production, decline in rural consumption due to drought and subdued prices

NEED FOR CRITICAL FOCUS ON POULTRY SECTOR IN INDIA

Overview of Poultry Sector In India :India is the third largest egg and fifth largest poultry meat producer in the world with about 60 billion eggs and 2.2 million metric tons of chicken meat. This production is achieved generally by commercial poultry operations; however a significant contribution comes from rural poultry farming operations also.