DHANKUTA: A majority of poultry farms have been adversely affected due to the extension of government-imposed lockdown to control the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

One of the farmers, Leela Ram Acharya, said, "A majority of poultry operators in the area have been discouraged to continue with poultry farming due to lack of market and unavailability of feed due to lockdown, putting huge investment at risk."

"I opted to sell my farm as I did not want to see the chickens die of hunger. However, no one came forward to acquire it. Now, I am really worried about repaying of bank loan," said Yuddha Bahadur Karki of Dhankuta-6.

"It's really hard to find customers even when we offer chicken at around Rs 150 per kilo, which were traded at Rs 260 prior to the lockdown," Yadav Ghimire shared.

Most of the consumers are refraining from consuming poultry products believing it would transmit the coronavirus, as the government urged public to properly cook meat items in its COVID-19 PSAs, adding more misery to the business, Ghimire shared.

Meanwhile, Chief District Officer (CDO) Keshav Prasad Bimali stated that no pass is required for delivery of agricultural products, contradicting farmers claims of not getting passes in the district.

"If the DAO and security forces facilitate our sales activities, half of our losses would be minimised," the farmers claimed.