The city government has taken steps to pay compensation to
farmers and enterprises around the city who have suffered losses
during the suspected bird flu outbreak, releasing a bulletin on
February 5, six days after suspected bird flu was found in Nanhui
District.
Last year local farmers' annual income averaged 6,650 yuan
(US$804). This year, the city government has set the target of
7,000 yuan (US$846). Compensation and allowances for farmers was
supposed to conform to this goal, said Jiao Yang, the city
government's spokeswoman.
The city government has decided to pay "reasonable compensation"
to farmers suffering economic losses directly from the disease.
After the outbreak of the suspected bird flu, some farmers were
forced to undertake large-scale poultry slaughter. In Nanhui,
300,000 birds were slaughtered. To these kinds of farmers, the
district or county governments would pay compensation according to
the number and type of fowl destroyed.
But details of the exact amounts to be paid have not yet been
disclosed.
The government would also make a contribution to breeding farms
to support their operations. The government plans to pay out 8 yuan
(US$1) per bird, with the expense shared between the city and
district governments. Incubators would also receive 0.5 yuan per
egg from the government.
Designated processing businesses would purchase poultry passing
the quarantine examination at a price of no less than 5 yuan per
kilogram. The price of qualified eggs should be no less than 4 yuan
per kilogram. Relevant loans would be supported by financial
institutions, with the government contributing 0.8 yuan per
kilogram to each processing business.
In Chinese villages, farmers are used to raising poultry with
the aim of enriching their own dining tables as well as to earn
money. Large-scale commercial chicken farms and duck farms only
account for a small part of national production.
At present, China's yearly output of chickens for cooking is
about 5 billion, second only to the US. China's output of eggs is
the largest in the world, amounting to about 2 billion every
year.
Experts estimate that among the country's 7 billion chickens
(including cooking and breeding chickens), only one quarter to one
third are raised on large farms, with the others spread among
small-scale farming families.
(Shanghai Star February 12, 2004)