Duck farmers pin their hopes on Christmas for revival of fortunes
The Hindu
It’s that time of year again when the ‘Kuttanadan’ duck finds a pride of place on dining tables in Kerala. After going missing from most of the Christmas platters for two consecutive years following the outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza, the ‘Kuttanadan’ duck roast is set to tickle taste buds once more as duck farmers in Kuttanad and Upper Kuttanad are hoping for a revival of their fortunes this festive season.
ALAPPUZHA
It’s that time of year again when the ‘Kuttanadan’ duck finds a pride of place on dining tables in Kerala.
After going missing from most of the Christmas platters for two consecutive years following the outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza, the ‘Kuttanadan’ duck roast is set to tickle taste buds once more as duck farmers in Kuttanad and Upper Kuttanad are hoping for a revival of their fortunes this festive season.
Duck farming has not returned to pre-bird flu levels with several big farmers (those who used to rear a flock size of 2,000 or above) staying away or reducing their flock size due to the fear of avian flu striking again and funds crunch caused by the inordinate delay in getting the promised compensation from the government for last year’s outbreak.
However, farmers say that there are signs of revival with increasing demand for duck meat ahead of Christmas.
Binnychan Xavier, a seasoned duck farmer from Nedumudi in Kuttanad, returned to duck rearing with an eye on this Christmas season after skipping the practice last year following huge losses after bird flu struck his farm twice in 2021.
“This time I have reared 3,500 ducks. I am selling birds to wholesale dealers at ₹200 per duck. I sell birds (dressed) through my shop at ₹320. After a couple of tumultuous years, the sector is seeing some sort of revival,” says Mr. Xavier.
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