MS Dhoni's 'Kadaknath Chicken' farming ambition ruined by bird flu in Madhya Pradesh

Former Indian captain MS Dhoni retired from international cricket in August last year. Since then, the veteran stumper has kept himself engaged in poultry and organic farming. Dhoni recently started farming famous black Kadaknath chickens at his organic poultry unit. According to reports, Dhoni had ordered 2000 chickens from tribal farmer Vinod Meda, who is a resident of a village in Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh, the place from where the Kadaknath breed originates.

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MS Dhoni's farming project jeopardized by bird flu

However, according to a recent development, Dhoni's ambitious farming project has been jeopardized by the bird flu outbreak in the state. As per a report by The New Indian Express, samples of the Kadaknath chicken farm owned by Meda in the Jhabua district have tested positive for the ungodly Avian Influenza virus. 

In August 2020, Dhoni's farm managers contacted Meda through Meda Krishi Vikas Kendra (KVK) and MP Kadaknath mobile phone app and subsequently placed their order. Notably, the managers had also credited advanced money into Meda's bank account for the supply of the chickens. Dr RK Rokde, the state’s director (animal husbandry) confirmed the development saying that they received a letter from NIHSAD Bhopal on Tuesday informing that Kadaknath chicken samples from that poultry farm in Runipada village of Jhabua district’s Thandla block have tested positive for the Bird flu, causing the H5N1 virus.

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Rokde further said that the deputy director (animal husbandry) in Jhabua district has been directed to act in the matter as per the central government’s Bird flu Action Plan 2021, which includes culling, compensation, disposal of poultry, feed material, eggs, etc. He also assured that clean-up and the disinfection-sanitization process will also be subsequently initiated at the concerned poultry farm. Rokde stated that the one km radius of the farm will be treated as Infected Zone and the chicks in the other poultry farms of the infected zone will also be culled.

Farm owner Meda was totally shattered with the development. Speaking about the same he said that he is totally devastated as he had to supply the chicks to Dhoni’s farm in Ranchi on January 10 but a week before that his Kadaknath chickens and chicks started dying suddenly. He revealed that he lost up to 2,500 chickens due to it. Meda further said that he reported the matter to local administration after which samples from his farm were sent for testing in Bhopal. He stated that he got to know about the Bird flu confirmation report on Tuesday.

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MS Dhoni net worth

According to Celebritynetworth, Dhoni’s net worth is estimated to be at around $170 million. Of this, Dhoni's salary from his IPL team, the Chennai franchise counts towards ₹15 crore per season (for 2020), with a lifetime earning of ₹1,37,84,00,000 from the league. As one of the best players of the game in modern times, Dhoni's salary from the BCCI was no less lucrative - before he was dropped from the BCCI's central contracts list, Dhoni earned a hefty sum of ₹5 crores per annum from the board. 

Other than his salary, Dhoni earns big from his sports teams. He is the co-owner of the football club Chennaiyin FC, hockey club Ranchi Rays and Supersport World Championship team Mahi Racing Team India. Rated by SportsPro as the 16th most marketable athlete in the world, Dhoni is said to charge anything between ₹3-4 crore for each brand endorsement, according to multiple Indian media reports. He is the brand ambassador for OPPO, Dream11, AMFI, Khatabook, TVS, PokerStars, and Indigo Paints. 

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Disclaimer: The above MS Dhoni net worth and house information are sourced from various websites and media reports. The website does not guarantee a 100% accuracy of the MS Dhoni net worth and house figures.    

SOURCE: PTI/TWITTER