Bashkiria lost 350 million eggs due to bird flu outbreak

Over three years, the republic intends to increase egg production by 22%, and poultry MEAT production by a third.

In 2023, Bashkiria received less than 350 million commercial eggs . The cause was an outbreak of bird flu at the largest poultry farming enterprise in the republic, the Bashkirskaya poultry farm. This is stated in the draft program “Development of egg and meat (broiler) poultry farming in the Republic of Belarus for 2024–2030.” The document was prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic. RBC Ufa got acquainted with it.

“Due to the same bird flu, the poultry population at the Bashkirskaya Poultry Farm OJSC was reduced by 4.2 million heads, or 38%, compared to 2022. Restoration of the livestock will be carried out by importing young poultry to the enterprise in stages and will reach its design capacity in 2025,” the document says.

Due to an emergency at an enterprise in the Ufa region, at the end of the year, Bashkiria slipped to 28th place among the regions for the production of chicken eggs. When the company returns to its previous volumes, the republic will be able to take 14th–15th places, the Ministry of Agriculture predicts.

According to the department, over the past year in the republic, farms of all forms of ownership, including personal farmsteads, produced 117.3 thousand tons of poultry meat. According to this indicator, Bashkiria ranks 19th among regions. The poultry population amounted to 7 million heads - this is 30th place among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

When implementing a seven-year program for the development of poultry farming, the Ministry of Agriculture plans to increase poultry meat production in 2026 to 158 thousand tons, or by 34.7%. The growth will be 47.7% if we take into account only production at enterprises and farms without taking into account personal farmsteads.

Total egg production should increase from 821.7 million in 2023 to 1 billion in 2026, or by 21.7%. If we do not take into account private farmsteads, the increase will be 54.6%, from last year’s figure of 646.7 million units. The remaining 175 million eggs were obtained from laying hens on private farms.

To achieve these goals, the Ministry of Agriculture proposes to increase the number of poultry farms in the republic. To do this, it is necessary to use “about 70 empty livestock buildings, conditionally suitable for raising broilers and producing eggs,” the draft program says. According to the department, these premises can accommodate from 600 to 800 thousand poultry at a time, depending on the maintenance technology and the direction of activity. Over the course of a year, 4–5 million heads will grow from this quantity and it is possible to obtain 12–15 thousand tons of poultry meat in live weight, the ministry predicts.

Businesshas already become interested in the prospects: about 30 farms and ten enterprises have expressed a desire to start poultry farming or expand existing production with the commissioning of 50 empty premises, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. It is planned to support the company with regional subsidies to reimburse up to 50% of the costs of purchasing equipment for poultry breeding.

The total volume of financial support for the comprehensive program in 2024–2030 will be 1.58 billion rubles, including 175 million in 2024 , 210 million each in 2025–2026, and 245 million each from 2027 to 2030. The majority of the funds - 1.26 billion - are planned to be raised from extra-budgetary sources, that is, at the expense of investors.

As RBC Ufa reported, an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at the Bashkirskaya poultry farm, owned by Tavros Group, occurred in August 2023. Because of this, the enterprise destroyed 3.2 million birds, 18.2 million eggs and 70 tons of meat and meat products.

Restoration of the poultry farm began in 2024. The delivery of breeding young poultry is currently underway. The company may reach its previous capacity in 2025. In March, JSC “Bashkirskaya Poultry Farm” filed a lawsuit against the government of Bashkiria demanding to recover 700 million rubles from the budget. compensation for destroyed livestock and eggs.