"Alka Upadhyaya, secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, on Tuesday assured the poultry farmers and egg exporters in the region that the Union govt would not oppose Tamil Nadu's status as the disease-free export zone."
After visiting poultry farms in Namakkal district and meeting with animal husbandry officials, poultry farmers and egg exporters, she emphasized the Centre's commitment to facilitating egg exports from the state.
Dr P V Senthil, secretary of the Livestock and Agri Farmers Trade Association, requested official recognition of Tamil Nadu as bird flu and disease-free, noting no outbreaks have occurred there. He also called for eliminating compartmentalization policies in favor of zonal declarations.
Upadhyaya clarified that "the compartmentalization was the requirement from certain egg importing nations and that the Centre had nothing to do with the same."
Industry representatives requested establishing a local laboratory for poultry disease surveillance and diagnosis. "The situation will change if an advanced lab comes up in the district," they stated. Upadhyaya acknowledged the approximately Rs. 10 crore cost and pledged to seek Centre financial support.
The meeting included district collector S Uma, Rajya Sabha MP KRN Rajesh Kumar, and state animal husbandry director Maheswari Ravikumar.
Source — Times of India
