Chandigarh, March 30: The poultry sector in Haryana has been severely hit due to the lockdown and coronavirus outbreak in India, forcing farm owners to bury thousands of chickens alive. Due to the 21-day national lockdown to control the outbreak of COVID-19, many farmers have incurred losses and there is a drop in demand and lack of chicken feed. According to a report by Hindustan Times, the poultry farm owners in Haryana’s Bhiwani, Dadri, Rohtak and Jind districts are the worst-affected and have no choice but to bury the chickens alive due to shortage of feed for the poultry.

The HT report quotes owner of a poultry farm in Bhiwani, saying that he has buried over 12,000 birds alive in last 10 days due to acute shortage of feed and has suffered a loss of Rs 23 lakh in last four months. Another farm owner claimed that he buried 6,500 birds in the last week as the nationwide shutdown cut the supply of bajra and feed. The farmers claimed that they took the extreme step so that the birds do not die of starvation and further spread disease. Coronavirus Hits Pune's Poultry Industry Hard, Farmers Left High and Dry.

Amid the rising scare of coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown that is in place across the country, the prices of chicken and eggs in the market have seen a drastic downfall due to rumours linked to the spread of COVID-19. On Sunday, during the 10th Episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat 2.0’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologized for taking tough decisions. He said the battle against COVID 19 required some tough decisions, adding that it was important to keep the people of India safe and expressed confidence that together India will defeat COVID-19. “The Lockdown will keep the people as well as their families safe and those who are not following the rule of isolation will be in trouble”, he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 30, 2020 02:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).