Poultry Broiler Farming
1. Introduction
Poultry meat is an important source of high quality proteins, minerals and vitamins to balance the
human diet. Specially developed varieties of chicken (broilers) are now available with the traits of
quick growth and high feed conversion efficiency. Depending on the farm size, broiler farming can be
a main source of family income or can provide subsidiary income and gainful employment to farmers
throughout the year. Poultry manure is of high fertilizer
value which can be used for increasing yield of all crops.
The advantages of broiler farming are
a) Initial investment is lower than layer farming
b) Rearing period is 5-6 weeks only
c) More number of flocks can be taken in the same
shed
d) Broilers have high feed conversion efficiency i.e. the amount of feed required for unit body
weight gain is lower in comparison to other livestock
e) Faster return from the investment
f) Demand for poultry meat is more compared to sheep/goat meat
2. Scope for broiler farming and its national importance
India has made tremendous progress in broiler production during the last three decades and the broiler
population in the country during 2011-12 stood at 2300 million. Today India is the fifth largest
producer of broiler meat in the world with an annual production of 2.47 million MT. Despite this
achievement, the per capita availability of poultry meat in India is only 2.96 kg which is way below
the ICMR recommendation of 11 kg meat per capita per annum.
The growth of the poultry sector is mainly attributed to the interventions of the corporate sector with
an enabling policy environment provided by the Government of India / State Governments from time
to time. The activity provides huge employment opportunities for the rural poor either under Backyard
poultry production system or under small scale commercial broiler farming units. Over 5 million
people are engaged in the poultry sector either directly or indirectly.
Owing to the considerable growth in broiler industry, high quality chicks, equipment, vaccines and
medicines, technically and professionally competent guidance are available to the farmers. The
management practices have improved and disease and mortality incidences are reduced to a great
extent. Many institutions are providing training to entrepreneurs. Increasing assistance from the
Central/ State governments and poultry corporations is being given to create infrastructure facilities so
that new entrepreneurs are attracted to take up this business. Broiler farming has been given
considerable importance in the national policy and has a good scope for further development in the
years to come.
3. Integration in Broiler Farming
There is a growing trend of integration in broiler farming. In the early nineties, contract farming for
broilers was introduced and in 1995 it spread all over Tamil Nadu. Between 1995 and 2000, it spread
to Karnataka. It gathered momentum and spread its wings to Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh in the
years 2001 & 2002 and after that, it gained inroads into West Bengal and Gujarat. The spread is due
to in built strengths in integration system. Integrators takes care of all aspects of production, right
from raising of grandparent and parent flocks, production of day old chicks for rearing, manufacturing
and supply of concentrate feed, providing veterinary services and wholesale marketing of birds. Under
integration all the previous profit centres of the broiler industry viz. chick selling, feed selling,
hatching, medicine supply, transportation have become cost centres for the integrators who work as a
single entity and distribute the benefits among the farmer, consumer and the integration company
themselves. Under contract farming, poultry farmers invest only for poultry sheds / equipment on
their existing land. The Integrator supplies chicks, feed, and medicines, provides technical guidance
and also buy back / purchase the entire production after 5-6 weeks. The contract farmers are paid
rearing charges usually on per kg Live Weight basis and also as per the set of criteria prescribed by
the integrators viz., FCR, Mortality etc. Farmer is benefiting from the lesser investment and
production cost and also higher productivity which are achieved as a result of integration. Moreover
he/she is insulated from the market price fluctuations. However, the farmer may be at a disadvantage
if the number of batches supplied in the year by the integrator is less.
4. Financial assistance available from Banks for broiler farming
For poultry farming schemes with large outlays Detailed Project Reports (DPR) are required to be
prepared.
21 окт 2024
