Thu Jan 02 10:47:12 UTC 2025: ## Kerala Poultry Farmers Await Bird Flu Compensation Months After Outbreak
**Alappuzha, Kerala – January 2, 2025** – Poultry farmers in Alappuzha, Kottayam, and Pathanamthitta districts are still awaiting compensation from the Kerala government, several months after a bird flu (H5N1) outbreak ravaged their flocks in 2024. Over 2.56 lakh birds – ducks, chickens, and quail – perished or were culled during the outbreak, affecting 1,192 farmers.
While the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) has identified the eligible farmers, disbursement of the compensation, promised at ₹200 per bird over 60 days old, ₹100 for younger birds, and ₹5 per egg, has been delayed due to a reported fund crunch.
B. Rajasekharan, president of Aikya Tharavu Karshaka Sangham, criticized the government’s slow response, stating that the delay is forcing many farmers to seek alternative livelihoods.
However, an official from the Minister for Animal Husbandry’s office assures that compensation, totaling ₹3.06 crore (a combined ₹1.53 crore from the Union government and a matching State share), will be disbursed soon. The delay, the official explained, was due to the fund shortage.
The outbreak, first confirmed in April 2024, affected 38 locations across the three districts. While 19 samples of wild and peri-domestic birds also tested positive, no new cases have been reported since July 12, 2024. Government restrictions on hatchery operations and poultry transportation, imposed in September, have recently been lifted.
First Piper 