Livestock and poultry farmers of Assam are facing scarcity of feed during the lockdown to combat coronavirus as mills and retail stores are closed and transportation, except of essential items, is barred. Adding to the woes, pig farmers are facing a local epidemic affecting the animals.

Representatives of Assam Livestock and Poultry Corporation Ltd met chief secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna on Saturday and urged him to allow mills manufacturing animal feed to open.

“The mills will open as soon as permission is granted. Smaller units are already operational but social distancing norms have to be maintained if the bigger ones are opened. Unavailability of labour to run the mills is another challenge,” a source said.

Corporation chairman Manoj Saikia said farmers were not getting animal feed because of closure of retail stores and mills and, as a result, had to cull six to seven lakh chicks.

“Meat and poultry shops are shut in many places because of the lockdown. Farmers have resorted to many ways to overcome the situation. In some parts, chicks are being culled and in others, chicken is being sold at a very low price. Hatcheries at Gorchuk and Khanapara deliver chicks to areas like Mirza, Chaygaon, Boko, Nalbari, Pathsala and Jorhat. After the coronavirus outbreak, villagers have started blocking roads barring entry of vehicles,” he said.

The founding president of North East Progressive Pig Farmers Association, Manoj Kumar Basumatary, said thousands of pigs have died of swine fever at Jonai in Dhemaji district, about 800-1,000 pigs have died at Nitapukhuri in Sivasagar district and the disease has started taking a toll in Lakhimpur district as well.

“I met the agriculture minister and the director of veterinary department and apprised them of the situation. It is a matter of grave concern as pig population of entire villages are getting wiped out. We fear more pigs will be affected. Small farmers will suffer a huge loss. I hope the farmers will be compensated,” he added.

Basumatary also said transportation was a major problem and was affecting feed stock and farmers.

Sources said 50 per cent of the total animal feed available in Assam comes from other states. The outsourced feed is used more by farmers.

Maharashtra Feeds Private Ltd, Godrej Agrovet Ltd, and Royal Green Feeds are among the outstation companies that supply animal feed to the state.

“Although the government has cleared transportation of animal feed to every state, the ground reality is different. To load animal feed on a vehicle, we need labourers and

they are in short supplybecause of the lockdown. There is also less availability of curfew passes,” an official of Maharashtra Feeds Private Ltd said.

There are around 16 big animal feed mills in the state, which are capable of producing around 150 metric tonnes daily. There are 25-30 smaller mills producing around one tonne feed per day. There are around 45-50 government livestock farms in the state.