SIX million yuan (US$72,000) in compensation has been handed to farmers in Kangqiao Town in Nanhui District for poultry slaughtered in the early days of the outbreak of suspected bird flu.

But Xu Shengwei - whose ducks were the first affected - and the families of five other farmers still affected by the quarantine - still have no knowledge of the level of compensation they will receive.

On the evening of the day Xu's ducks came under suspicion, the village's ducks, 60,000 in all, were slaughtered.

"I have received phone calls from other villagers," Xu said. "People have told me that they were receiving 20 yuan (US$2.40) for each egg-laying duck."

For poultry farmers who have kept their ducks for a year, this may be a blessing as they have already made a profit on the eggs they had been selling. But for those who had just-grown birds, it means a great loss because they have already made a large investment of around 80 yuan (US$9.60) in each duck.

"They don't know much about this," Xu said. "If they had separated the ducks in different categories at the beginning of the slaughter, there would not have been such trouble."

People who have suffered a loss exceeding whatever compensation they have received are blaming Xu for causing the trouble.

An official, surnamed Guo from Nanhui District administration, said that a standard amount of compensation had not been set. "It may cause disputes among farmers," Guo said. He also declined to say whether more money would be allocated for compensation.

But Xu and his five neighbours will have to wait until the end of the quarantine period before they will possibly receive compensation. This has made them anxious.

Besides paying the compensation, the district administration has also taken steps to publish information about the flu and compulsory vaccinations have been carried out all over Nanhui.

"I am worried: what if I can't raise ducks any more?" Xu said. He came to Nanhui District from Zhuji in neighbouring Zhejiang Province and had been raising ducks in Yiyuan Village in suburban Shanghai for 13 years.

There are other older farmers with the same background. "They hardly have any relations left back in the old hometown," Xu said. "And they are 40 or 50 years old. What can they do back at home to make a living?"

The area where Xu's duck farm is located is not a proper location for poultry farming, Guo said. According to the development plan for the village, the area may become an industrial zone within a few years.

Local officials have started to encourage farmers to turn to other pursuits to make a living. "Free seeds and seedlings will be handed out," Guo said. Farmers will be encouraged to plant mushrooms in the 3-kilometre zone around the area where the suspected bird flu case was found.

Xu remains worried and said: "The government has banned trade in live poultry. I wouldn't dare raise poultry after this case." He said that when only a limited number of business operations are allowed to collect live poultry, they can decide on the price they will pay.

"I know a guy who buried over 10,000 ducklings because he believed he would lose money if he tried raising them," Xu said.