CRISIS CUTS TO THE BONE

Atif Parvez, 28, a poultry farmer in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district, is a worried man. Prices of broiler chicken have nearly halved in the state, from Rs 90-110 a kg in December to Rs 50 in early April, first on rumours that chicken meat and eggs caused COVID-19 and later from the lockdown. His costs are around Rs 65 a chicken, including chicken feed and staff wages. “If costs can’t be recovered, what’s the point of running a business?” he asks.

India’s poultry sector is valued at about Rs 80,000 crore (2015-16), according to the Department of Animal Husbandry, and broadly divided