Poultry Sector of India

Poultry Sector of India

This article deals with the ‘Poultry Sector of India .’ This is part of our series on ‘Economics’ which is an important pillar of the GS-3 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here.


Scope

Poultry Sector in India

Potential of growth in India

  • No religious sentiment is associated with poultry (as is the case with pork or beef).
  • It takes far less to produce 1 Kg of chicken than beef & pork.
  • Many Indian youngsters are becoming Non-Vegetarian under the influence of the marketing of KFC & McD.
  • The development of the poultry industry can help satisfy the increasing demand for protein without causing inflation in the pulses.
  • Poultry can act as a source of side income for the small and marginal Indian farmers. 


Poultry Business in Different regions

The potential in the poultry sector can be achieved if companies do contract farming (backward linkage) with farmers by giving them raw materials, e.g. feed, antibiotics etc., to get uniform quality products without traces of antibiotics and then market them on a large scale. Large companies such as Venky’s, Saguna foods, etc., follow this model in India.


Backward Integration done by Industry

Poultry Case Study of Saguna

Case Study of Saguna Foods – They have made a contract with 20,000 farmers in 16 states.

Medicine They have their own pharma division in Tamil Nadu. They provide anti-bacterial, antibiotics, vitamins etc., to contract farmers manufactured in their pharma plants.
Feed They have their own feed manufacturing unit to provide scientifically manufactured feed to contract farmers. 
Training They also train farmers how to raise poultry scientifically.

 Above three results in chicken & eggs of uniform size & quality.

Processing They have established a HACCP certified plant in Coimbatore to process 35,000 birds per day.

Issues in Poultry Production

1. Maize deficit

  • Maize (poultry feed) constitute 60-70% of broiler cost. Fluctuations in maize price affect broiler price
  • Maize consumption is growing much faster than maize production. 

2. Bird Flu

  • India is continuously hit hard by Bird flu (Avian Influenza). 
  • Indian consumers decrease consumption of eggs & meat during that time, and foreign countries also impose a ban. 

Processing & Marketing Issues in Poultry

1. Poultry Hygiene

  • There is a shortage of clean water for washing, leading to contamination.
  • Poor hygiene practices in defeathering, chopping and removing viscera lead to contamination.
  • There is a lack of chilling facilities to store processed poultry.

2. Antibiotic Residue & Bird Flu

  • Bird flu & sometimes traces of banned antibiotics are found in the chicken, thus leading to the banning of Indian products in foreign markets.

Government Schemes for Poultry

1. Poultry Development Scheme

  • By Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries (DADF) 

2. Poultry Venture Capital Fund

  • NABARD provides finance.
  • To set up poultry breeding farms and market poultry products.

3. Backyard Poultry Development Scheme

  • It aims to help the farmers, especially small and marginal farmers, set up small poultry farms in the farm households.

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