8/6/2019 Poultry Farm Oct10
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/poultry-farm-oct10 1/3
Market Survey
16 FACTS FOR YOU • OCTObeR 2010
By: R. MANIMEKALAI
IS POULTRY FARM BUSINESS WORTH DOING?
The inputs required for poultry farming are available locally in rural areas. Also, starting
poultry units requires small land and less capital. So it can turn out to be a regular source of
income for the rural population.
reach a target of 180 eggs and 9 kg
of meat per capita annual consump-
tion—the level recommended by
the National Institute of Nutrition
(NIN) and the Indian Council of
Medical Research. It would require
almost three million additional com-
mercial birds and eight million broil-
ers to increase the egg and meat per
capita availability by one and ten
grams, respectively.Today, layer units of 100,000
birds and above under the cage sys-
tem are common. India produces
40,000 million eggs and 1200 million
broilers annually. More than 100,000
poultry farms of varying size rang-
ing from few birds exist in rural and
tribal areas of the country. There
are about 123,000 poultry farmers
in India. The value of output from
the poultry sector is nearly Rs 330
billion and there are 300,000 poultryfarms in India.
India has emerged as the fourth
largest producer of eggs and ninth
largest producer of poultry meat in
the world. Andhra Pradesh, Maha-
rashtra, Haryana and Tamil Nadu
are the major egg-producing states.
These states accounted for more than
50 per cent of the eggs produced in
the country. Andhra Pradesh ranks
first in egg production, being the egg
basket of India. ICAR is playing a vi-
Poultry farming has
occupied an impor-
tant place in the In-
dian economy. With the
fast-food culture an
accepted feature, poultry farming is
playing a greater role in the eatery
business in India. It has emerged as
the fastest growing segment in the
agri-livestock industry.
Poultry development has not only
grown in size but also in productiv-
ity. The annual growth rate is 10 per
cent in egg production and 15-20 per
cent in broiler production. This has
been possible due to the availability
of infrastructure facilities including
birds, quality feed, modern automat-
ic systems in poultry houses, etc.
Poultry farming is aiming to
8/6/2019 Poultry Farm Oct10
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/poultry-farm-oct10 2/3
Market Survey
OCTObeR 2010 • FACTS FOR YOU 17
The poultry business has also given rise to many
subsidiary industries such as compounded feed,
equipment, pharmaceuticals, hatchery operation and
processing of poultry products.
tal role in developing new technolo-
gies for optimising poultry produc-
tion in the country by undertaking
research at its own institutes and
agricultural universities. The WorldHealth Organization (WHO) consid-
ers egg as the best protein food for
human beings.
Importance of poultry production
Poultry farming plays an effec-
tive role in rural development as it
helps the rural population earn reg-
ular income. The inputs required for
poultry farming are available locallyin rural areas. Simple equipment
for feeding, watering and sheltering
for small units can be manufactured
with locally available materials in
the villages with the help of local
artisans. Land required for starting
poultry units is small. Also, poultry
farming needs less amount of capi-
tal.
Poultry production in India is
recognised as an organised and
scientifically based industry and a potential tool to fight poverty and
malnutrition. Nowadays the poul-
try sector is gaining tremendous im-
portance in India to meet the grow-
ing protein demand of millions of
people. Due to the growth of man-
power in this sector, its importance
among the rural population has also
increased. It can be started either
as a subsidiary or a main business.
The poultry business has also given
rise to many subsidiary industriessuch as compounded feed, equip-
ment, pharmaceuticals, hatchery
operation and processing of poultry
products. Poultry droppings give
very good manure for crops. It also
serves as the source of raw materi-
als for industrial products.
Employment potential
Poultry farming provides direct
and indirect employment to about
1.5 million people. Some business-
men and professionals have entered
the field. More women are employed
in poultry farming as well as in mar-
keting of eggs. Poultry keeping pro-vides employment not only for those
who are engaged in the production
of eggs and chicken meat but also
for hatchery operators, feed dealers,
providers of building materials, egg
cases and trucks, processors of egg
and poultry products and all dealers
engaged in the marketing of eggs.
Nutritional security
Protein deficiency is common ininfants and growing children in a
large section of the society living be-
low poverty line. India’s name comes
at the top in the list of countries fac-
ing severe nutrition problem. The
diets of the pre-school children are
also inadequate both in terms of
quantity and quality. Diseases re-
lated to deficiency of protein and vi-
tamins are particularly high among
these children.
Egg is a good source of nutritious
food for all ages because of high pro-
tein and is easily digestible. Taking the nutritive value of egg into ac-
count, the Tamil Nadu government
provides eggs for school children un-
der mid-day meals programme. An
Indian’s daily diet contains much
less protein as against the minimal
requirement. The National Institute
of Nutrition (NIN) recommends
that a balanced ration should con-
tain about half an egg per day. Egg
and poultry meat consumption can
supplement nutritional deficiency
and ensure food security.
Consumption pattern
Poultry and poultry products atpresent command a major share of
food of animal origin produced and
consumed in the country because of
their cost-effectiveness, easy avail-
ability, superior protein quality and
wider acceptance by all sections
of the society irrespective of caste,
creed and religion. Increase in con-
sumption has resulted in increased
demand and consequently produc-
tion.
Poultry egg and meat, in recent years, have become important and
popular food for 68 per cent of the
non-vegetarian population of the
country. Their consumption is in-
creasing day by day. Eggs and poul-
try meat are less costly, and therefore
middle-class people are willing to
improve their nutritional standards
with poultry meat and egg. With
rapid increase in the middle-income
population, urbanisation, industri-
alisation and changing socio-cultur-
al habits, the demand for processed
poultry products is increasing fast inIndia.
The average per capita consump-
tion is about 34 eggs and 600 grams
of poultry meat a year. However, the
quantity recommended by the Na-
tional Institute of Nutrition is 180
eggs per capita and 11 kg of all meat.
The urban population, which has
high purchasing power, consumes
more eggs and meat. It is estimated
that 25 per cent of India’s total pop-
ulation, which lives in urban areas,
8/6/2019 Poultry Farm Oct10
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/poultry-farm-oct10 3/3
Market Survey
18 FACTS FOR YOU • OCTObeR 2010
consumes 75 per cent of eggs and
meat produced in the country.
Marketing
Marketing is the key to develop
the industry. It is estimated that 75-
80 per cent of eggs and broilers are
sold through the unorganised mar-
ket without giving due importance
to the cost of production. Today,
the marketing of poultry products
in India is largely in the hands of
wholesalers. Barely 5 per cent of the
production is marketed directly by
the producer. The lack of organisedmarketing and seasonal fluctuations
in demand do not ensure remunera-
tive prices for the producer.
Export of poultry products
Indian poultry farmers are real-
ising that production and promotion
of high-quality products is the key to
success. Concerted efforts need to be
undertaken so as to maximise food
safety, both from the point of view of
protecting public health and ensur-
ing compliance with global trade re-
quirements.
Poultry farming also has a tre-mendous potential of contributing
to the foreign exchange earnings
of the country by way of increased
exports of poultry and poultry prod-
ucts. Poultry products valued at Rs
150 million have been exported to
Gulf countries, Bangladesh and the
Philippines. During 2000-01, India
exported poultry products valued at
Rs 861.8 million to other countries.
India exports a variety of poultry
products like eggs, hatching eggs,egg powder, frozen egg yolk, frozen
poultry and poultry meat to Europe,
Japan, Maldives, Oman and other
countries.
Problems inpoultry business
Lack of research on breeding and
management, absence of full-time
practical training programmes on
the pattern of industrial training in-
stitute for training
the personnel in the
poultry industry,
improper packing,
transport problems,lack of storage facil-
ities leading to un-
certainties in main-
taining the quality
of eggs, lack of or-
ganised marketing
facilities, high feed
cost, lack of disease
control measures,
high cost of labour,
emergence of new
disease and highcost of medication,
and dependence on
middlemen for sup-
ply and disposal of
poultry products
are the major prob-
lems faced by the
farmers.
Scope for improvement
There is a further scope for de-velopment of the poultry sector
with certain changes in the present
status. The fast growing domestic
and export markets for poultry and
poultry products need an effective
infrastructure in the country. Crea-
tion of retail outlets in abundance
is necessary. Many modern poultry
processing units have to be started.
The poultry scientists have to be in-
novative for constantly improving
the genetic capacity of the birds, effi-ciency of the feed utilisation, ability
to sustain climatic stresses, and in-
creased resistance to diseases. Policy
interventions are required to protect
and improve the poultry farming in
India against uneven competition by
developed countries.
The author is an associate professorin Department of Economics at Nehru
Memorial College, Puthanampatti,Trichy district