ALAPPUZHA: With the government lifting all restrictions on transport of poultry within Kerala imposed during the bird flu outbreak, duck farmers are now demanding that it stop the import of ducks from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to allow them to make the most of the Christmas and New Year demand.

State secretary of the joint duck farmers’ society, Samuel Pallippad says Kerala’s two lakh ducks should be enough to meet the needs of the people.

“Ducks are being brought from other states due to a nexus between the inter-state middlemen and local meat sellers. With the duck business in Kuttanad gaining momentum again, the inter-state lobby is working harder to corner the market,” he claims.

The districts of Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Alappuzha where duck rearing is a tradition, suffered huge losses after bird flu was confirmed on November 20.

According to official data, while thousands of birds died of the flu, as many as 2.76 lakh ducks were culled across the three districts.

Duck meat sellers point out that three lakh ducks are usually sold during the period December 20 to January 1 in the state.

But Mr J Raju, a duck meat vendor for the last 15 years in Mankombu, laments that the Kuttanadan breeds still don’t have many takers despite bird flu being contained in the state.

“So some meat sellers have of late started contacting middlemen in Karnataka to import ducks to meet the demand. Ducks from Avani in Karnataka are cheaper and can take away some of the market of the Kuttanad ducks,” he explains, adding that he sold at least a 1,000 ducks a day during the Christmas season in a good year.

“The meat sellers are forced to import ducks due to the dearth of the local breed. Several duck farmers have had to give up their business due to the bird flu outbreak that has affected the breeding of the local birds as well,” adds Mr. K. Sumesh another meat seller of Ambalappuzha.

Mr V. Brahmanandan, director, Animal Husbandry Department (AHD), however, claims the government is not aware of import of ducks from other states.

“No instructions have been given to the checkposts to allow ducks from other states into Kerala as Kuttanad has enough birds for the season,” he maintains.