Breeders hit hard by collapsing poultry sales

Multa Fidrus and Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang, Bogor

Life has become more difficult for poultry and pig breeders in Tangerang, Banten, since the area was declared a "red zone" for after as the first avian flu fatalities in humans occurred there last month.

"I'm facing massive losses. I've had no buyers since the government started culling poultry and pigs here," said Parman, 47, a pig and duck breeder in Babat village, Legok district.

Earlier last week, the Ministry of Agriculture carried out its first limited cull of pigs and poultry that displayed indications of being infected by the H5N1 virus.

Parman, who has 34 pigs and 112 ducks, claimed that results of the examinations conducted by the Veterinary Research Center showed that none of his animals or birds had been infected by the virus and that he had received "bird-flu free" certification from the agriculture agency.

Still, it has not been easy to convince buyers that his animals and birds are harmless. Due to the declining sales, Parman has had to temporarily lay off his employees.

Some 250 other poultry breeders in Tangerang have been similarly affected. The survival of their businesses is currently threatened by the central government's "red zone" declaration, even though their birds have not been infected by the deadly virus.

Tangerang was declared as bird flu "red zone" after laboratory tests showed that a man and his two daughters had died of bird flu in early July.

The central government has also banned poultry and pigs from being taken out of Tangerang until after the regency is declared free of the bird flu virus.

Most pig and poultry breeders have seen their sales drop to zero since the area was declared a red zone. Jakarta officials said over the weekend that poultry consumption had fallen by up to 70 percent in the capital alone.

Sutrisno, 49, who employs 15 workers at his poultry farm in Pasar Kemis district, said that the markets in Jakarta and Lampung were still refusing to take his chickens.

"I have not counted up my losses, but, as you can see, none of my employees are working today as I've asked them to stay at home until sales get better," said Sutrisno, who rears some 15,000 broiler chickens on his two-hectare farm in Sukatani village.

Before the bird flu scare, he sold between 1,000 and 1,500 chickens a day. "We have had no orders nor buyers for the past three days," he said.

Many breeders who saw their birds culled have opted to take a break before attempting to revive their businesses.

Tangerang Animal Husbandry Agency director Didi Aswadi said that his office had begun to hand out bird flu-free certificates so that breeders could sell their birds to buyers who required proof that they were not infected.

Tangerang regent Ismet Iskandar urged the central government last Wednesday to revoke the red zone status imposed on the regency, insisting that there was no bird flu epidemic there.

He said that his administration was monitoring all poultry farms in the regency and had found no further indications of bird flu.

Meanwhile, poultry breeders in Bogor have been taking preventive measures by resorting to spraying.

"We spray all vehicles entering and leaving the farm with disinfectant," said Juwito, a worker with PT Scorpio, one of the largest poultry farms in Parung, Bogor.

Parung and Gunung Sindur district are among the main centers of the poultry industry in Bogor, with birds from the area being supplied to markets in Greater Jakarta.

Sales in the area appear not to have been affected by the bird flu scare, however.