BHUBANESWAR: The poultry bird culling at Keranga, about 35 km from here, set off alarm in the Capital. As the queue before the chicken vendors thinned, the Reliance Delights suspended sales. The impact of bird flu could be seen on the sale of poultry products. The sight at the Unit IV market was a reflection of the apprehension among the poultry lovers. The broiler vendors waited for customers with hardly any sale on the day. Some vendors were dismissive of flu scare and its effect on the sales and none brought down the prices officially. However, the vendors were more than keen to negotiate the rates. The normal price of chicken in the City is ` 120 a kg while a bit of bargaining could fetch a buyer a discount of about ` 30. While broiler vendors were given a miss, there was a rush at the fish and prawn stalls and the traders were doing brisk business. With the fish and seafood rates varying, depending on the variety, their sales were unaffected. “It is better to stay off poultry products as long as the threat continues. We would make do with fish and red meat for the time being,” said Dayanidhi Das, an executive. Meanwhile, retail chains like Reliance Fresh’s Delight officially have already suspended sale of poultry products for the past three days. Even though they still had eggs which they said were old stock, they had stopped selling broiler birds. Prior to this, they saw an easy business of 50 kg poultry a day. The Odisha State Poultry Products Co-operative Marketing Federation Limited (Opolfed), however, said their sales have been unaffected. General Manager Prasanta Kumar Biswal asserted that packed eggs are being sold at a brisk pace. “Since those eggs undergo processing and are properly cleaned prior to sales, they still have their share of buyers,” he said. However, there has been a visible drop in the sale of unpacked eggs. With a cumulative distribution of 15,000 eggs, both packed and unpacked, at least 300 eggs were left unsold on the day. The Opolfed pinned hopes on the fact that since it procured most of its eggs from Jatni, located at a distance from Keranga, its sale will not be hit. However, not many were sure since the culling impact was beginning to be felt.
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