Poultry Production
Poultry Production
Systems of poultry farming in India Major Strategies and action plans Scope and strategies for investments in Indian poultry industry:
Poultry has an crucial place in India as the eggs and chicken meat are important and rich sources of protein, vitamins and minerals. Poultry provides rich organic manure and is an important source of income and employment to millions of farmers and other persons engaged in allied activities in the poultry industry. Chicken is the most widely accepted meat in India. Unlike beef or pork , it does not have a religious taboo. The prices of chicken meat are lower than those of mutton or goat meat . Many Indian families , especially the educated people in urban areas , have begun to accept eggs as a regular supplemental part of their vegetarian diet .The forecast surveys indicate that as the present younger generation goes to the adulthood, the acceptability and demand for eggs and chicken meat in next 2-3 decades is likely to increase many-folds very rapidly. In the last two to three decades , poultry has made tremendous strides particularly in the private sector, with the result that India is now self-sufficient with regard to requirements of high quality breeding stocks, modern poultry equipment, availability of medicines and vaccines and technically qualified skilled manpower. The annual gowth rate is 8-10% in egg and 12-15% in the broiler industry. With the annual production of 33 billion eggs, India is the fifth worlds largest egg producing country. It also produces 530 million broilers per year. Poultry provides employment to about 1.5 million people. The annual per capita consumption in India is only 33 eggs and 630 grams of poultry meat. This is much lower as compared to the world average of 124 eggs and 5.9 kg meat. The National Committee on Human Nutrition in India has recommended per capita of 180 eggs (about one egg every two days ) and 10.8 kg meat .To meet this target , it is estimated that by year 2010, the requirements will be 180 billion eggs and 9.1 billion kg poultry meat while the estimated production may only be around 46.2 billion eggs and 3.04 billion kg poultry meat .This shows that there is a tremendous scope for growth With rapid urbanization , and increasing demand from the present 250 million economically strong ,consumer market base (which is likely to go up to 350 million by year 2010 ), there is bright future for this industry in India . It is estimated that, at present, Indian Poultry Industry contribution to the GDP is about Rs 80 billion which is likely to reach Rs. 300 billion by the Year 2005
improved layer and 620 million commercial broiler population. By year 2005 , this is likely to reach to 250 million layers and 2110 million commercial broilers . This means that the parent female layer breeding stocks have to increase from 1.41 million to 3.12 million. In the same manner, the broiler breeder female stocks have to grow from 5.80 million to 20 million. This again indicates a tremendous potential for hatchery growth .All this will require intense efforts to provide proper infrastructure support sustainable broiler and egg industry in breeding, feeding , management, health control , and infrastructure for collection, processing, preservation and marketing of eggs and poultry products with a view to increasing the food security and improving the overall economy of the country . The National Egg Coordination Committee projected a poultry plan for year 2015, keeping in view the target of 180 eggs and 9 kg chicken meat. Per capita annual consumption and considering an average growth of 10 % and 15% for egg and broiler industry respectively .For this purpose the country would need a capital investment of about Rs.148000 million A district wise growth and marketing plan, with a thrust on local rural marketing has been suggested instead of concentrating on the urban markets .
areas practicing more extensive production systems , having flock sizes ranging from 25 to 250 birds. In case of layers the cage system is rapidly replacing the deep litter system. However in broiler farming, the deep litter system is more prevalent.
Poultry Marketing
A farmers organization National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) -has done a good job in last 10-15 years by collecting information on supply and demand position of eggs on daily basis and declaring region-wise wholesale egg prices. This has helped to prevent undue exploitation of farmers. Agro-corpex India limited has been functioning in different states for direct trading of eggs of farmers. Fast-food joints of well known International companies like Kentucky Fried chicken, McDonalds, "pizza hut" and "Subway" etc have been started.
Skilled Man-power
As a result of various courses and training programmes organized by the Governments and Agricultural Universities , technical manpower is available . Some of them lack in providing hands-down-training Some of the Institutes in the private sector such as Dr. B.V. Rao Institute of Poultry Training and Management have removed this lacuna to a considerable extent .
Institutional Finance
Credit facilities from commercial and cooperative banks and Regional Rural Banks and refinance facilities from NABARD during the last 2-3 decades have been provided to all aspects of poultry production and marketing. Besides providing financial resources NABARD has also given valuable guidance in preparation, appraisal and monitoring of schemes .It has formulated several new innovative schemes and has been successful to obtain financial support from reputed International Financial Institutions. A separate data on ground level credit for poultry is not maintained by the banks. The figures mentioned below are for ground level credit disbursed by banks for Animal Husbandry Sector (Dairy, Poultry, sheep, goats pigs). However data on refinance disbursement by NABARD for poultry sector is maintained. The figures are as follows:In RS million Particulars Ground level credit disbursed for A. H.Sector NABARD Refinance for poultry 199899 19960 1217 199900 21770 1133 200001 25990 710 200102 31840 700 20023 NA* 762
Recent poultry sector study conducted by NABARD in 2000 has indicated that banks are giving loans mainly for establishing farms for egg or broiler production and to a small extent for hatcheries for production of parent stocks. There is a need to diversify the lending to other allied activities of poultry industry particularly for the following:
Breeding of foundation stocks including pureline and grand parent stocks and hatcheries New technology in poultry housing viz environmental control houses, automatic feeding and watering systems, sprinklers and foggers for cooling, gas brooding, feed pellet production, water treatment plants, pollution control systems etc. Vertical integration systems for broiler production, processing and marketing Commercial egg and broiler production Duck and Quail production Poultry marketing through egg and broiler carts egg labeling and packaging stations, egg processing for value addition Poultry meat processing plants of different capacities. Poultry fast food joints Poultry feed manufacturing plants Production of "Specific pathogen free (SPF) eggs for vaccine production Manufacturing poultry vaccines, medicines and diagnostics Poultry diagnostic laboratories Private veterinary practice/clinics
Poultry diseases:
A recent NABARD study has identified several problems responsible for reduction in productivity of birds due low poultry health. There is a need for establishing and vigorously following strict bio-security measures on the poultry farms. All breeding stocks have to be regularly screened for the presence of carriers of Salmonella organisms. It is necessary to create well-equipped disease diagnostic and surveillance laboratories at state levels and in the heavily concentrated poultry pockets in the country. Private sector can play a big role.
Poultry marketing
Regular monitoring of demand and supply position of eggs and declaration of price by the NECC has improved farm gate prices of eggs. Similar efforts are required for the live birds/ processed meat. Infrastructure facilities using modern equipment and machinery for processing preservation and marketing of eggs and poultry meat are required. Instead of concentrating all marketing efforts in the big urban centers, it is necessary to improve infrastructure and develop rural markets where there is a good demand. Efforts are necessary to improve consumer education on use of eggs and poultry products in human diet. A campaign to introduce eggs in the mid-day meal programme of school children will be useful . In India, consumer preference is increasing for clean, safe, hygienic nutritious and properly packed, labeled and presentable food items including eggs and poultry meat. Introduction of modern state art technology in processing, packaging, labeling, preservation of eggs and poultry meat and meat products is required to improve " quality" for domestic and export markets. With economic liberalization and free trade under WTO, the domestic products have to maintain "quality" to face the stiff competition from imported foreign poultry foods. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has prepared standards for safety certification of foods. It has recently launched a scheme for HACCP ( Hazard analysis and critical control point ) for food industry to obtain IS 15000 certification .Soon, this certification may become mandatory for all major food processing plants.
There are several schemes of central and state Governments. to assist the small farmers for poultry production .In many schemes, non-availability of timely and efficient inputs and services and poor backward and forward linkages are the major bottlenecks. Schemes to develop rural markets and to remove regional imbalances need to be worked out. Electronic and print media need to be harnessed for more effective communication with people to increase their nutritional awareness regarding value of eggs and poultry products and for surveillance and guidance to farmers for control of poultry diseases. Policies and systems for on-going and post-project evaluation of the development schemes need to be established by the central and state governments. Refresher training
for developing the capacity and skills of the Government staff has to be an integral part for all Government aided programmes.
Dairy development through cooperatives has taken strong roots in India. However, except some parts of Maharashtra, this approach has not much succeeded in poultry. But they have shown that this is another viable medium for rural development through poultry farming. A scheme called establishment of "a mother unit" by the cooperative to provide all inputs and marketing support for the farmer and establishing small production units with several small producers called satellites is an interesting example which can be implemented , wherever possible . Small-scale and village industries have successfully used the services of Voluntary organizations (NGO) . Since rural poultry production is mostly in the hands of women , special emphasis is now being given to form Self Help Groups ( SHG) of women members. Training is given to develop their skills and then SHG are linked with banks for providing group loans and to introduce the habit of thrift saving by the women beneficiaries in the rural areas. Special assistance is available from NABARD and Government of India for this purpose.
According to a Kuwait based broiler Company, the demand in Gulf (West Asia) is 60000 tons of frozen chicken per month. In Kuwait ,the firm sells 1000 metric tons per month. One of the challenging problems faced by the Indian exporters so far is that the export demands are in huge quantities while the quantity available for export per lot from India is very small due to fragmented small sized farms with little or no facility for processing ,refrigeration and marketing with infrastructure for maintaining a cold chain during the transportation of products
providing status of agriculture to poultry in all states of India ( only a few states have implemented ) , exemption from land ceiling act enlarging scope of 'mid-day meal scheme for school children' to include eggs in the diet of children. Grow more Maize campaign creation of National Poultry Development Board
As a result of WTO agreement ,India lifted quantitative restrictions on import of 150 items of consumer goods .Non tariff trade barriers ( Licensing for import of food products) have also been lifted .As a result of this change , the local industry will have to face a serious challenge from the imported foods including eggs and poultry products. Recently Government of India has announced bound rates of 100% on imported poultry meat with a view to provide level-playing field for the domestic industry. Some quantity of chicken meat has already started being imported by some five star hotels in India. The cost of production/transportation and selling prices of table eggs produced in India are still competitive and there is no immediate threat from import of table eggs.
It will be noted from the above table that the middle east (Gulf) countries are one of the major importing countries. Considering comparative lower cost of poultry production and availability of cheaper skilled labour in India as compared to the developed countries, nearness of India to Gulf countries and a very large ethnic Indian population in these countries , India has a specific advantage to develop its poultry exports to these countries provide high quality and superior product-presentation is ensured for Indian poultry products . Although some efforts have been made to increase Poultry exports from India, the trade is very small in comparison to the global trade ..At present the exports are mainly in table eggs , hatching eggs,frozen eggs ,egg powder , and to a small extent for Live poultry
(one day old chicks ), poultry equipment and machinery etc. As of 1998-99 the poultry exports were worth Rs 637.10 million although there is a potential to increase it to Rs. 3 to 4 billion. The products, quantities export values for the years 1997 to 1999 are shown in annexed Table.There are five egg powder manufacturing plants in the country with total capacity of 15000 tons per annum. They all have faced a major problem due to the fall of price (USD 4.00 to 2.5 per kg ) in the international market and imposition of heavy import duty (USD 0.80 per kg ) by the European Union .A major .market promotion effort is needed to encourage use of egg powder in Bakery products. In India and we will have to look for more diversified and value added products from processed eggs. According to APEDA, India's major markets for poultry exports are as under :Live Poultry : Sri Lanka ( 50%), Bangladesh ( 32.5%) , Nepal ( 8.2%) Hatching eggs : UAE ( 38%) , Oman ( 26.8%), Kuwait ( 5.4%) Table eggs : UAE ( 72.8%) ,Kuwait ( 8.3%) , Oman ( 8.3%) Egg Powder : Japan ( 16%) , Poland (14.5%) ,UAE (8.9%), Belgium (5.54%) Frozen Eggs : UAE ( 83%) , Oman (5% )Kuwait (3.9%) In 1984 , Govt. of India , Ministry of Commerce had constituted a committee to conduct market survey for export of poultry products to the Gulf countries i.e. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates .Possibilities of export of hatching eggs , one day old chicks and table eggs were identified .The recommendations were made to provide cash incentives ,and freight subsidies to exporters, more pressurized air-conditioned space and non-A.C. cargo-space for perishable goods in the air-crafts, and better handling, storage and veterinary inspection facilities at major airports. There is an urgent need to create these facilities to boost poultry exports from India . Infrastructure facilities for grading , processing , packaging preservation , and marketing with cold chain facilities will have to be developed Better veterinary inspection ,disease screening and certification facilities are required at major airports. With the onset of WTO agreement ,more strict quality and hygiene standards ( e.g. SPS measures) are being prescribed by countries intending to import poultry products. For example, in addition to testing for the presence of Salmonella, screening of broiler meat for other organisms like compylobacter( causing foodborne illness in man ) is being insisted by certain countries For developing exports ,more refrigerated air cargo space will have to be provided to encourage poultry exports . It is proposed to establish National Poultry Development Board as an autonomous body to help develop infrastructure facilities for this purpose. According to the poultry private sector , India exports about 800 reefer containers of table eggs (0.413 million eggs per container) to the gulf market. Eggs come to Gulf market from India, Holland and USA .Dubai is the major market with a preference for white shelled eggs. Muscat is another market but the imports are seasonal (6 to 7 months).Oman, Baharen and Quatar are other small markets Saudi Arabia, Yemen Syria and Iran are almost self sufficient in requirement of
table eggs. In Dubai, our major sales are in the institutional market i.e. hotels, restaurants and caterers. Retail stores prefer eggs from Europe and USA. Indian eggs are perceived as of lower quality and are quoted for USD 2 to 3 less per carton ( 360 eggs ) than the eggs from Europe and USA. We need to improve skills in getting higher productivity per bird and reduce cost of production of egg ,develop quality, maintain consistency in the supplies and create awareness for a brand name for our products .This is only possible if we take care of proper washing (cleaning), grading ,branding packaging, preservation and transportation of exported table eggs .There is a scope to invest for creating this facility. The present requirements of importers in Gulf are that the table eggs should have 50-55 gram weight, clean and uniformly thick shell with no visible cracks, have a spotless yolk (yellow colour preferred),and should be free from Salmonella and other contagious disease infections .They should be stamped with date of production , country of origin and date of expiry, using food grade quality ink. Recently another problem faced by Indian exporters is that the RTO authorities levy a very heavy fine ( Rs 10000 ) if the weight of a reefer laden container exceeds 34 metric tons ( out of which maximum 16.0 metric tons of actual goods weight is allowed). Maximum utilization of container space takes 1148 cartons of 360 eggs each. But the cumulative weight comes to 19 metric tons which exceeds by 3 tons and hence the penalty of about US$ 235 per container which negates the profitability of exports. Both central and state Governments need to look into this problem seriously and help the exporters to overcome it .
Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) is promoting agro-exports since 1986. Financial assistance is available to exporters, growers, trade associations, Government agencies etc. For poultry exports, following incentive schemes are available :Feasibility studies, surveys , consultancy and data-base upgradation. Infrastructure development Export promotion and market development Packaging development. Assistance to promote quality and control of Quality Upgradation of meat plants. Organization building and HRD. Generating relevant research and development. Air-freight subsidy for export of hatching eggs @ Rs 6 per kg, or 25% of IATA rates , or 30% of FOB rate, whichever is less for countries of North Africa, South East Asia and CIS countries .
According to the private sector hatcheries ,firstly the subsidy should be available for exports to all countries. Secondly, the subsidy amount needs to be increased or air freight costs to be reduced .They claim that the cost of producing a hatching egg is Rs 12.37 and airfreight is Rs. 2.25 i.e. total Rs 14.62 per egg. After getting subsidy of Rs 0.40 , the expenditure comes to Rs
14.22 per egg ( Rs 14.62-0.40). The selling price is about 26 to 28 cents (US) per egg or about Rs 11.60 to Rs 12.00 which is not remunerative APEDA has initiated following steps towards development of poultry exports:
Standards have been laid down for export of egg products Standards for export of poultry meat have been sent for Government notification. Standards are being framed for export of eggs . Feasibility studies are being launched to create integrated infrastructure facilities for export of eggs at major production centres.
Assistance for following relevant schemes is available :Development of infrastructure facilities . Setting up/expansion/modernization of food processing industries Development / modernization of meat processing. Development of poultry/egg processing Research and development in food processing Person power development in food industry. Development /improvement of marketing, quality control , storage and transport of meat and meat products . Generic advertisement on processed foods and marketing assistance. Strengthening of backward linkages in food processing industry. Promotion of food processing industry. Strengthening of nodal agencies Setting up of demonstration units / pilot projects.