Dhoni’s poultry plan goes for a toss as 2,500 Kadaknath die of bird flu

| | New Delhi
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Dhoni’s poultry plan goes for a toss as 2,500 Kadaknath die of bird flu

Thursday, 14 January 2021 | Rajesh Kumar | New Delhi

Former Indian cricket team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s dream of Kadaknath breed chicken farming at his sprawling farm in Ranchi has been hit by the bird flu outbreak in Madhya Pradesh.

Nearly 2,500 Kadaknath chickens of a poultry farm died of bird flu or avian influenza in Jhabua’s Rudipanda village under Thandla tehsil on Wednesday. Dhoni’s firm had placed an order for the supply of 2,000 Kadaknath chicks to the village hatcheries.

According to officials, nearly 2,500 Kadaknath chickens have died of bird flu in Jhabua district, which has GI-tag for Kadaknath. In August 2020 Dhoni’s farm managers had got in touch with the poultry farm through the Krishi Vikas Kendra (KVK) and MP Kadaknath mobile phone app. Dhoni’s farm managers had also credited advance sums for the supply of the chicks.

The black-winged and tan-blooded “Kadaknath” chicken is known for its high iron content and low cholesterol, and sells at a much higher price than other varieties. “Now, transportation of chicken from the infected area has been banned for three months,” officials said.

Bird-flu cases have been detected in Indore, Mandsaur, Agar, Neemuch, Dewas, Ujjain, Khandwa, Khargone, Guna, Shivpuri, Rajgarh, Shajapur, Vidisha, Bhopal, Hoshangabad, Ashoknagar, Datia and Barwani districts so far.

Officials said that a surge in avian influenza or bird flu, an outbreak that has now spread to 10 States, has impacted the bar-headed geese, duck, pegeon, black and brown headed gulls and the Eurasian teal among migratory birds, and crows and poultry among domestic birds till now. New cases of bird flu have been reported in Jammu & Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and four districts of Jharkhand

The Centre had constituted a committee comprising the Inspector General, the Deputy Inspector General of Forests and Wildlife and a project scientist to monitor the handling of the avian flu situation by States. The committee held a meeting with all State chief wildlife wardens on Tuesday to take stock of the situation and ensure that Centre’s advisory is being followed.

In a statement, the Ministry on Wednesday said that States were asked to ensure that the infection does not spread among poultry, as it would have a high economic cost for the poultry farmers but it was found that many States are banning supply of poultry and poultry products from other States. As this would add to the negative impact on the poultry industry, the States were requested to reconsider such decision, it said. The Ministry has held a meeting with 17 States and asked to efficiently manage the spread of avian influenza in their respective States in accordance with the Action Plan 2021.

“To deal with the situation, the States were asked to coordinate with the Department of Health and Forest and sensitise them about the issue. States were also asked to maintain sufficient supply of protective equipment and maintain bio-security measures in poultry farms. States were also directed to identify BSL-II labs at the State level for speeding up the identification of infection in the State and timely introduction of control mechanism,” it said.

The animal husbandry department of Maharashtra said that 238 bird deaths were reported in the State on Wednesday adding that the samples have been sent for testing. “Total 2,096 bird deaths reported in the State from 8 January till now,” the department said.

Meanwhile, several birds have died in Prayagraj, Jalaun in Uttar Pradesh and samples have been sent to a laboratory. Samples taken from two dead crows in Kanpur have tested positive for bird flu and with these, the number of confirmed cases of the influenza has increased to four in the city.

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