The bird flu scare has increased the demand for aqua products. Even though Nellore and Chittoor districts have not reported any case of bird flu so far, the majority of the urban people have switched over to the consumption of fish and prawns from chicken.
The prices of Roopchand, Rohu, and other varieties of fish have gone up from Rs 120 to Rs 200 a kg with the rise in demand for aqua products. On the other hand, the prices of chicken have declined to Rs 160 from Rs 180 a kg. Due to the bird flu scare, people are not ready to buy chicken even if its prices declined in both Nellore and Chittoor districts. Not only on Sundays, fish, and prawns are much in demand on other weekdays.
“The demand for fish and prawns has been on the rise in the open market for the last week. The prices of a few varieties of fish have increased to Rs 220 a kg,” said K Srihari Babu, a vendor at the fish market in Nellore.
Aquaculturists of Nellore export their produce to Chittoor and Kadapa and neighboring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka where they get a good price. Aqua farmers are hopeful of reaping good profits in view of the rise in demand for fish and shrimp this season.