Poultry farmers in Coimbatore and Tiruppur have urged the authorities to constitute district-level technical committees without delay to determine the difficulties they face in sustaining their poultry farms.
Their demand was voiced at the farmers’ grievances redress meetings chaired by the district collectors in the two districts, last Friday.
Though the authorities claim the process has been initiated, the farmers who have been on strike since the start of this month demanding revision of rearing rate emphasise that they will relent only if the task is expedited.
In the wake of the strike by a large section of poultry farmers across Tamil Nadu, spearheaded by Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Padhukappu Sangam, the State government announced formation of the panels to assess input costs, and address productivity concerns against the backdrop of the farmers’ demand for increasing the rearing rate from ₹6.50 per kg to ₹20..
The panels, according to officials, will study the incidence of diseases, and the challenges to sustainability of the sector.
Referring to the escalating cost of chicken meat that currently rules in excess of ₹300 per kg in the wake of the strike, R. Satish Kumar, State Secretary – Legal Awareness Wing, Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Padhukappu Sangam, urged the government to secure the entire gamut of information pertaining to the contractual agreement between the thousands of poultry farmers and the hundreds of integrators to determine viability from the rearing perspective by factoring in the rise in the cost of inputs, including electricity, coconut pith, and labour.
The claim by the integrators that they continue to supply chicks to the poultry farmers despite the strike must be determined from the Broiler Coordination Committee (BCC) and the Poultry Farmers Regulatory Committee, Mr. Satish Kumar demanded.
The stand by the government that it has no role to play in the contract farming carried out under private agreement with integrators was not acceptable, he said, citing the conduct of tripartite meeting amongst the farmers, the government representatives and the integrators during 2013.
“The farmers are only asking for a reasonable rise in the contract rates from the “windfall” gains enjoyed by the integrators,” Ramesh, another senior functionary of the farmers’ association, emphasised.
The farmers have been suffering due to the rigid stand of the integrators on compliance with Food Conversion Ratio. The farmers lament they were bearing the brunt of the impact of supply of what they described as “sub-standard feed and medicines”.
The position taken by the integrators is that the price of chicken is determined by the demand-supply dynamics. “We are, nevertheless, addressing the concerns of the poultry farmers through a relook at the rearing rate at the individual level,” an integrator said.
The farmers, on their part, refuse to accept the oral assurances, and have demanded fresh agreements with the integrators factoring in practical realities.
Published – February 02, 2026 07:19 pm IST
