Bird flu fears: As demand falls, cost of eggs set to tumble in Delhi

In Delhi, the state government has shut the wholesale poultry market in Ghazipur for 10 days and prohibited the arrival of live birds from other states, starting Sunday, as a preventive measure against potential spread of the bird flu, which has been confirmed in seven states so far.

As fears of the emergence of avian influenza grip the national capital, traders on Sunday said the prices of eggs were set to tumble, while those of mutton would likely increase.

While there are no confirmed cases of bird flu in Punjab, traders say fewer customers were turning up to buy poultry products, such as raw chicken and eggs. (Harsimar Pal Singh/HT)

In Delhi, the state government has shut the wholesale poultry market in Ghazipur for 10 days and prohibited the arrival of live birds from other states, starting Sunday, as a preventive measure against potential spread of the bird flu, which has been confirmed in seven states so far. These include Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

To be sure, no confirmed case has been recorded in Delhi as of Sunday evening.

“The demand for eggs has already gone down over the last four days, after news about the emergence of bird flu [in other states]. Crates of 30 eggs that were selling for ₹140 around four days ago, are now selling for ₹120. The rates can further go down this week if demand does not pick up,” said Rashid Alam, a trader based in Delhi’s Seelampur.

As on Sunday, prominent retail supermarkets in the city sold crates for between ₹180 – 200, compared to ₹210 – 220 last week.

While the Ghazipur wholesale market has been closed, there is no restriction on sale of chicken by retailers from their existing stock. Chicken currently sales for around ₹160 – 200 per kilogram in Delhi.

The government has not, so far, imposed any restrictions on the trade of eggs.

“We saw this happening in 2006 when bird flu was reported across several countries, and in 2016 when it was last reported in Delhi. It is about to happen once again. Even though there is no recorded instance of people getting the flu through cooked chicken or eggs, there is large-scale fear. The demand for eggs falls every time there is such a scare about bird flu, even if it is based on rumours,” said Iqbal Qureshi, vice-chairperson of Ghazipur wholesale poultry market.

Each time there has been a bird flu scare, Delhi has seen a significant shift in consumption from poultry to mutton and, a concurrent spike in the cost of the latter. Several traders who HT spoke to on Sunday recalled how rumours about poultry contributing to transmission of Covid-19 had hit the market in mid-2020, and the retail price of mutton had touched ₹1,100 a kilo in several locations across the city.

Mutton currently costs anything between ₹530 to ₹580 per kilo in most retail stores across Delhi. “However, the shift from chicken to mutton has already started happening. In the last seven days, demand for mutton has gone up and the price will increase in no time because supply is a problem,” said Shamim Qureshi, a Delhi-based mutton trader.

For poultry and meat consumption, Delhi needs around 350,000 birds, two million eggs and 10,000 goats per day, said traders. The Capital’s main sources of poultry and meat are Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

“Goat slaughter is a difficult affair, compared to poultry. Ghazipur has an organised system, but it only accounts for half of the city’s mutton supply. There are several slaughterhouses, mostly illegal, scattered across the city which account for the other half. Space and hygiene are major issues. So, supply of mutton usually fails to cater to an abrupt rise in demand, for which price witnesses sharp increase,” said Shamim Qureshi.