Maharashtra: Due to lack of demand for poultry products, a Dhanu poultry farmer has destroyed Rs. 5.8 crore worth poultry products.
According to the Hindustan Time, as the poultry industry in India has witnessed a setback amidst rumours around coronavirus, owner of a poultry farm has dumped the poultry product worth Rs. 5.8 crore which includes 1.75 lakh one-day-old birds and 9 lakh hatchery eggs.
The farmer buried the birds after false information on social media stated that eating white meat was the cause of the coronavirus outbreak which led to the drop in the sale of poultry products.
Suresh Bhatlekar, owner of 35 poultry farms and three hatcheries in Gujarat, Virar, and Dahanu had dumped 1.75 lakh one-day-old birds and nine lakh hatchery eggs on his Ganjad farm in Dahanu on Monday.
As quoted by the Hindustan Times, Suresh Bhatlekar said: “Due to the losses, my labourers have no work as I have stopped production.”
After the rumours about the white meat spread on social media, the poultry business had drastically affected.
A statement was also issued by the animal husbandry department to clarify that eating white meat will not result in coronavirus.
The Poultry Breeding Association in Pune had earlier filed a complaint against a man from West Bengal of spreading such rumours. According to G. S. G. Ayyangar, head of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) cited in the Russia Today report: “There is a misconception that coronavirus will spread through chicken, mutton and seafood. There is nothing like that. It is scientifically not proven.”