Role of backyard poultry in South-East Asian countries: post COVID-19 perspective

The potential growth of the poultry industry was halted globally during COVID-19 although poultry birds were not affected directly by the virus. Distress in the poultry industry during the pandemic is primarily due to restriction of movement imposed on various items such as poultry feed, chicks, medicine and vaccines, and poultry products both locally and globally particularly in Asia, where 10 countries executed national lockdowns and 12 countries employed localised lockdowns. Rumours about spreading of SARS-CoV-2 virus through poultry meat caused further collapse in the domestic market economy. The export market of poultry products has declined in certain regions like Asia, Europe and North America. It is expected that worldwide chicken meat trade may be lowered by 4% although there…