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)