Pakistan Loses 1 Million Breeder Poultry in Earthquake

PAKISTAN - The poultry sector has suffered a heavy loss of breeder birds in an after Saturday’s earthquake in Mansehra, Batagram, Balakot, Shinkiari and other parts of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP).

“The NWFP is the principle parents’ breeder in the country due to its suitable climate and low-cost production”, Abdul Maroof Siddiqui, central convener of the Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA), told the Daily Times on Tuesday.

He said according to the initial reports, around 175-200 farms in these areas had completely perished. He said: “More than one million breeders (parent birds) have reportedly died in the earthquake, half of the damage is reported in Mansehra district alone where more than 1,000 parent have been birds-sheds razed to the ground.”

He said the poultry association had started preparing a report to assess the damages caused by the earthquake. He said along with colossal loss of human lives, the poultry industry also suffered a heavy loss.

Mr Siddiqui said poultry framers in NWFP also brought about improvement in their hatcheries and supplied 35 percent more parent birds to Punjab and Sindh till September. “Now there is likely to be a shortage of breeding birds in the country and around 20 percent low production of chicks is likely to hit the market”, he added.

Source: dailytimes.com.pk

12 October 2005