Kendrapara: Poultry farming in this district has slipped into the hands of big companies who own or control everything except the farms, a report said. It is alleged that farmers who have set up farms to earn a livelihood are earning only peanuts while the companies are making huge profits by exploiting the former. Ninety-seven per cent of the poultry meat consumed by people is produced by a farmer under contract with a big company. These poultry farmers are the last independent link in the company-owned supply chain.
In this scenario, a company owns every link of a product’s supply chain from start to finish. This has happened as the Odisha government has failed to regulate the big companies.
Reports said that the Odisha government is providing loans to women of self-help groups and youths to run poultry farms for their livelihood. The loans are provided through banks under its ambitious Mission Shakti scheme. This has encouraged women and youths to start a poultry farms as it will help them earn a livelihood for their family.
The poultry farmers have been trapped by the big companies supplying them with poultry feeds, chicks and medicines. As a result, the farmers are facing losses instead of making profits. The situation has remained unchanged despite a rise in price of poultry meat all over the state.
Recently, poultry meat was being sold around Rs 250-Rs 270 per kilogram in urban as well as rural areas of Odisha. Farmers have failed to reap any profit from the business despite an increase in price of poultry meat. This has disappointed youths who had started poultry farms to earn a livelihood.
Poultry farmers Kalia Samantaray of Indupur, Subhasis Jena of Kansar village, Ramakant Mallick of Pakhar village and Sheik Hassan of Barimula village alleged that the government has no role in regulating the market price of poultry products for which the big companies are calling the shots in the business. They alleged that big traders from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and two to three local firms have invested in the poultry trade in Odisha.
The big companies sign a contract with the independent farmers while the latter spend only on construction of farms, houses, water, power supply and manpower required to run a farm. In exchange they supply them with poultry feeds, chicks and medicines on time. The farmers raise the chicks and in exchange get only Rs 3 to Rs 5 per kg of poultry meat notwithstanding the market price at that time. The farmers cannot directly sell their products in the market.
Staff of the company with who the farmers have signed the contracts, collect the fully-grown chicken and they sell them both outside and inside Odisha. These companies charge exorbitant prices for their products if the farmers are unwilling to sign an agreement with them. In such a situation, poultry farmers have asked the Odisha government to intervene and bail them out of this situation