Research Note: Indian poultry industry vis-à-vis coronavirus disease 2019: a situation analysis report

Originating in Wuhan city, Hubei province of China and rapid spread to multiple countries, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged as a novel public health emergence. During early February, spread of misinformation and rumors driven by the fear of linking chicken meat and eggs in the transmission of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among human population is witnessed in India. This resulted drastic reduction in consumption of poultry products with subsequent fall in demand thereby prices. The COVID-19 driven lock down during March in the country has further accentuated the crippling poultry industry due to arrest of feed and healthcare essentials, destruction of eggs, chicks and birds. Here we have analyzed the impact of COVID-19 on poultry industry and showed the realistic flow of events that resulted in its economic fallout by disruption of poultry protein chain during pandemic crisis. The projected loss caused due to these events for the Indian poultry industry is around USD 3053 million. The economic impact is not uniform across the country owing to regional differences in consumption pattern and percent non-vegetarians.