Rural Poultry Farming Scenario in India: 

Scope, Importance, Challenges and Possible Solutions

Dr. Jayanaik,

Professor and Head, Department of Poultry Science, Veterinary College, Hebbal, Bengaluru

The poultry farming in India can broadly be categorized into 2 major sections of poultry farmingviz; (1) Commercial broiler and layer farming recognized as organized poultry sector and (2) Rural / Desi / Native Chicken Production and Improved dual purpose (meat / egg type) poultry farming as unorganized poultry sector. These poultry sectors in India is valued at about Rs. 1,00,000 crores (2017-18), out of this 80 % of the total market share (Rs.80,000 crore) is achieved by organized sector and 20 % market share (Rs.20,000 crore) by unorganized poultry sector. Out of total poultry population, backyard poultry constitutes 29.5 % and out of 88 billion egg production in 2016-17, the contribution to egg production from backyard poultry is 21 %. Out of these 2 categories of farming Desi / Native chicken production was gradually declined from 1960-70 onwards and commercial broiler and layer farming substantially increased from mere backyard poultry farming into an organized commercial poultry farming and this happened because of innovation in breeding, nutrition, management and health care. Now India ranked the 3rd largest egg producer and 5thlargest broiler meat producer in the world. The per capita egg consumption has gone up from 30 to 80 and chicken meat from 400 gm to 3.6kgs as against the ICMR recommendation of 180 eggs and 11 kgs of poultry meat, whereas percapita consumption of egg is 100 and poultry meat is 3.2 kgs per annum in urban areasand in rural areas it is only 30 eggs and 1.5 kgs of poultry meat. The 25% population living in urban areas consumes about 75-80% of eggs and poultry meat. The consumption of poultry meat and eggs is low in rural areas which is mainly due to low purchasing power of people.

The commercial poultry production has shown a tremendous growth over the last 4 decades, but Desi / Native poultry production and improved dual purpose type poultry farming is still lagging behind and neglected. This system of backyard / rural poultry production is a low input farming and is characterised by indigenous night shelter system, scavenging system, natural hatching of chicks, poor productivity of birds, with little supplementary feeding, local marketing and no health care.

Rural backyard poultry plays an important role in poverty alleviation by means of income generation and food security. Indigenous breeds are well known for their tropical adaptability and disease resistance while their plumage colour helps in protecting themselves against predators. Though local chicken are slow growers and poor layers of small sized eggs, they are however, ideal mothers and excellent foragers and hardy and possesses natural immunity against common diseases. These native chicken generally scavenges around home stead or in land area of owner during day time where they eat kitchen waste, leftover cereal like rice, wheat, pulses, green grass, insects, earth worms, snails and other available feed stuffs. These waste feed stuffs are utilized by these native birds to produce good quality, cheap source of animal protein.

Scope of backyard poultry farming

There is tremendous scope for these backyard poultry farming due to its preferences for egg and meat by consumers preferring for its taste, plumage colour and low cholesterol content and consumer pay 50-100% higher price compare to commercial egg and broiler meat. The backyard poultry farming system provides additional income to the family of a rural community and it also generates employment opportunity to rural small scale, marginal farmers and landless labourers. Village or backyard production systems are prevalent and can be found in both rural and urban settings. In India now, "backyard" production is thought to account for roughly 15% of all chicken output (Landes et al., 2004). "Backyard" systems are probably going to make up a bigger share of the total chicken production in places where there aren't as many hens living there. Production is mostly focused on traditional native local breeds in the village or backyard sector, providing both eggs and birds for meat. In recent years, improved backyard breeds including Giriraja, Vanaraja, Gramapriya, Srinidhi, etc., developed primarily by the public sector and have made significant contributions to the nation's overall supply of chicken eggs and meat. However, backyard farming can help resource-poor households increase their income and dietary protein intake (Acamovic et al., 2005, Rajkumar et al., 2010). Furthermore, despite growing competition from the commercial sectors, backyard systems are anticipated to produce a positive economic return due to the lower opportunity costs of resources and the better market prices offered for local fowl.

Importance of backyard farming in rural area over intensive commercial farming:

Almost 70% of people in India live in rural. However, 100% of the commercially produced broilers and more than 75% of the eggs are fed in cities and towns. Therefore, rural poultry is required to satisfy the demand of rural areas. Since the beginning of time, rural residents have kept chickens. Due to unfavourable climatic circumstances and a lack of balanced nutrition, commercial birds do not operate to their full potential in rural locations. Indigenous breeds are typically used for rural poultry production because they are hardy, resistant to common diseases, and require less care than exotic breeds. Due to many years of natural selection, indigenous breeds have also acquired significant adaptability to regional climate conditions. Some native breeds have a few distinctive genes, like as the necked neck, frizzle, and others, that aid in greater heat dissipation in tropical climates. Because of their colourful plumage, long shin bones, and attentiveness, birds may camouflage themselves to avoid being eaten by predators.

The preferences of the egg &meat of local chicken is differed by rural people & also part of urban people prefer these products over commercial products. Therefore the local people prefer farming or producing by utilizing locally available Indigenous Poultry genetic resources because of their superior adaptability and production &reproduction capability on low plane of nutritional& sub optimal management condition. The input and cost required for construction of night shelter is very low, because locally available wood, bamboo& other material will be utilized for constructing the night shelter shed. The input required for feed is very minimal & saves 50 – 70% of cost of production of eggs & meat as these birds meet their nutritional requirement by scavenging around the home or owner’s land area.

Numerous institutions have created a variety of poultry strains that are ideal for rural poultry production. These birds have 50% native and 50% imported in addition to other necessary traits for rural poultry production. The phenotypes of these birds are similar to those of their native breed, but they produce two to three times as many eggs with heavier eggs, are more adoptable, are more resistant to disease, and can withstand the strain of improper food and handling. This is mainly due to the advances made in genetic improvement, nutrition, disease control and scientific management practices

The improved crosses of Aseel (CARI Nirbheek) & Kadakanath cross (CARI Shyama), HITCARI (Naked Neck cross), UPKARI (Frizzle cross) resembling local native chicken and improved coloured broiler type CARIBRO (CARI) Dhanraja & CARIBRO Mrityunjay weighing around 2 kilos by 7 weeks of age was developed by CARI. Similarly, Raja-II, a multi-coloured broiler weighing around 1.98 kilos at 7 weeks of age with feed efficiency of 1.86 under intensive system of rearing which can also be reared in semi intensive system was developed by AICRP unit of Veterinary College, Hebbal, Bangalore. Poultry research station of TANUVAS has also developed Nandanam chicken, Nandanam broiler, TANUVAS Aseel chicken, Nandanam breeder quail, Nandanam Turkey 1, Nandanam Turkey 2 and Nandanam Guinea fowl 1, for the benefit of rural farmers for backyard poultry farming system.

The other dual purpose breeds developed are Gramapriya, Srinidhi, Vanaraja, Krishibro and Krishi layer were developed by Project Directorate of Poultry, Hyderabad. The dual purpose breed Giriraja for meat & eggs and Swarnadhara for egg &meat was developed by Department of Poultry Science, Veterinary College, Hebbal, Bengaluru. A few private sector players like Keggfarms, New Dr. Yashwant Agritech Pvt Ltd, Jalgaon, Indbro Research and Breeding Pvt. Ltd., Shipra Hatcheries, Patna are also producing stocks like Kuroiler, Satpuda-desi, Rainbow Rooster and Shipra in this segment.

These improved coloured broiler type & dual purpose birds are suitable for rearing on scavenging system in 10 to 20 per household & also in 100 to 2000 in intensive & semi intensive system of poultry farming by jobless rural youth and small holder family.

The management practices of rural backyard type / semi intensive system poultry farming:

The exploiting of production and reproduction capability of Desi / Native chicken and improved synthetic breeds can successfully be reared and grow to cater the nutritional demand of rural people by adopting simple and also at economical cost. The following management practices can be followed to achieve the successful farming in rural area.

1. Night Shelter:

By constructing the night shelter by locally available materials &birds should be provided with 1 sq. ft. of floor space upto 10 weeks & 3.5 sq. ft. per adult bird during laying stage. The birds will be housed during night & also during heavy rainy season during day time.

1. Feeding:

The birds meet their protein, energy, minerals & vitamins etc from left over cereals, pulses, green grass, insects, snails, termites & earth worms during their grownup period of 6 to 20 weeks & also during laying stage upto 72 weeks. However, the grower bird & layer bird should be provided balanced feed if available at 30 to 60 gms / bird / day for better performance or mixture of cereals & pulses at 40 to 70 gms per bird per day with 4 to 5 gms of calcium sources or mineral sources should be provided during laying stages.

During the first 4 to 5 weeks of age, the chicks have to be provided with brooding care including artificial heat up to first 2 to 3 weeks of life cycles of chicks and during this period chick should be provided with commercial type of broiler or chick mash ration as followed in commercial type of broiler for better performance during the later stages of production.

1. Health Care:

The birds must be vaccinated against Marek’s & Ranikhet diseases at different intervals as specified for layer type of birds (Table 1), periodic deworming should be done at 3 – 4 months intervals.

 

Table 1: Vaccination schedule for poultry birds

Sl. No.	Age of birds	Name of vaccine	Name of disease		Route of vaccine
	Day old chick	HVT, MD Vaccine	Marek’s disease	0.2 ml	s/c or l/m
	4 to 7 days	F1 or Lasota or B1	Ranikhet disease	One drop	Eye or Nostril
	14 to 18 days	Intermediate plus		One drop	Eye or Nostril
	35 days	F1 or Lasota or B1	Ranikhet disease	One drop	Eye or Nostril
	6 to 7 weeks	Chicken embryo adopted	Fowl pox	0.5 ml	Wing stab
	8 to 10 weeks	Strain killed vaccine (R2B Killed	Ranikhet disease	0.5 ml	S/c or l/m

Enhancement of livelihood and economy of rural mass by rural poultry

The role of backyard poultry farming in sustaining and enhancing poor people’s livelihood in developing countries is well recognized among the development community. There is also growing evidence to demonstrate the role of backyard poultry in enhancing the food and nutrition security of the poorest households reducing the livelihood vulnerability and insecurity and promotion of gender equity. It provides egg and meat for family consumption and to some extent cash income, there by enhances rural livelihood.

The member of a family combine their capabilities, skill and knowledge with the different resources at their disposal to create activities that will enable them to achieve the best possible livelihood for themselves and their family as a whole.Women look after the birds and carrying from sale of eggs and chicken are often a significant source of their cash income. They meet up their daily necessities such as paying school fees for their children, buying food and medicine, purchasing house hold equipments, etc., with the help of family poultry farming.

The most preferred quality protein comes from the chicken eggs and meat and increase in the overall egg and chicken production in rural can play an important role in socio-economic improvement of the rural mass.

  Scope and Constrains in future poultry production

The current Indian population is 1.33 billion which is expected to reach 1.65 billion by 2050. Thus, we have a high requirement of protein to feed vegetarian and non vegetarian population in each coming year. According to the National Sample Survey Organization, a growth in per capita income is shifting consumer preferences from cereals to fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat. According to a report by McKinsey and company, the per capita chicken consumption is set to grow from 3.2 to 9.1 Kg by 2030, on account of rapidly changing consumption behaviour of individuals. Share of Poultry & other meat in household food consumption is expected to grow from 12 % to 24% by 2030, if the expected growth momentum is harnessed. Disposable income has remained one of the most important factors behind changing consumption patterns. High income people also tend to consume more of meat products. Poultry is cheaper than other protein sources, has potential to increase production multi fold and is well poised to manage demand explosion.

Presently, we have a component under National Livestock Mission (NLM), namely, Rural Backyard Poultry Development (RBPD) which covers beneficiaries from BPL families to enable them to gain supplementary income and nutritional support. Under RBPD, the chicks/ birds suitable for rearing in the backyard are reared in the mother units upto 4 weeks and are further distributed to the BPL beneficiaries in atleast two batches.

It is proposed to move incrementally from this subsistence model of backyard poultry farming to a scaled-up entrepreneur model, up scaling incrementally upto 400 to 1,000 birds. In case of Low-input technology (LIT) birds, these would help in transition and up scaling later to 1,000-2,000 birds for larger commercial scale Poultry farming. Similarly, it is also envisaged to introduce smaller scale broilers in rural households for later scaling up to commercial scale and have Poultry as a mainstream source of income. Similarly, small scale broiler farming is envisaged to be introduced in cluster approach.

Alternative species / diversified poultry production

Duck farming: Ducks are sturdy and prolific, reared traditionally by poor farmers for their livelihood in coastal areas of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and some other parts of the country. Indigenous ducks of our country constitute more than 90 % of total duck population and the 2^nd largest species contributing towards egg production in India. Ducks are best maintained on free range system because they are good foragers and they find considerable proportion of their own feed by free ranging. The feed expenditure on rearing ducks is minimal because they pickup leftover paddy, insects, snails, earth worms and small fishes from these fields and convert it into efficient egg and meat production. Ducks also lays eggs in 2^nd year and weighs 10 to 15 gm more in egg weight compare to normal chicken egg.

Various duck breeds like Khaki Campbell, Indian Runner, White pekin and Muscovy are available in different research stations. The brooding care and management of the ducks is similar to the chicken and they are resistant to many of the diseases except vaccination is required for duck cholera and duck plague diseases.

Quail farming: Commercial quail farming is more popular and the space requirement for quail farming is very less and the initial investment required to start quail farming is also very minimum. Adult Quails are comparatively very sturdy than other poultry birds. The quail weighs from 150 to 200 gm at 6 weeks of age and quail start laying from 6 to 7 week onwards and lays more than 280 to 300 eggs per annum. The quail meat is becoming more popular because of its taste and lower in fat than chicken meat and quail eggs are also more popular because of its medicinal value and demand for the same is increasing. Quail can also be reared both in deep litter system and cage system. During initial 1 to 2 weeks of quail’s life cycle more brooding care has to be given since these birds are more fragile and heavy mortality occurs due to sudden change in environment and any change in temperature. The starter quails during first 4 weeks of life requires 27 % protein. As there is heavy demand for its egg and meat the marketing of these product is not an constraint to a farmer. The quail rearing in smaller unit either in deep litter or cage system can also be taken up by landless / marginal farmers of the rural community.

Turkey farming: Turkey farming can be a great alternative of chicken farming. They grow faster and become suitable for consumption like broiler chicken. Weather and other conditions of India are very suitable for turkey farming. Proper care and management ensures better production. They are also resistant to many other diseases. However, they need vaccination against new castle disease, fowl pox vaccine and cholera vaccine.

 

Guidelines / Policy Intervention by state Government or Government of India to boost the Rural Backyard Farming:

1. Set up of Brooding Centre / Nursery Unit / Mother unit:

Day old chicks supplied by State Agriculture University or through Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services and some private agencies supplied to farmers for rearing are vulnerable to predators in free range conditions. They need to be reared under reasonably controlled condition with proper brooding facility, balanced feeding, vaccination and medication up to 4 to 6 weeks of life. The non descript birds available in rural area & their further reproduction is limited to only few family & not available in larger quantity for the rearing purpose of marginal / small / landless labourers. The state Agricultural universities and also Veterinary universities & state AH & VS departments are providing day old chicks in a size of 10 to 3000 per person. The brooding care and its technology of growing these day old chicks up to 4 to 5 weeks is a tedious jobs i.e. majority of the rural mass though willing to rear these type of birds are unable to rear because of technology know how of brooding care is not aware by local people who shows interest in rearing of these birds.

Therefore the government can provide primary brooding centre in Hobli or Taluk level through self help groups (SHG) by providing subsidy on farming equipment and also on incubation machineries, wherein this self help groups can maintain non descriptive / improved colour broiler / dual purpose parent breed and can cater the services of small and marginal farmers by providing them with 3-4 weeks grown up birds by rearing up to this week in their brooding centre.

Veterinary aid / health care need:

The government through Animal Health and Veterinary Services Department can provide necessary poultry medicines and vaccines at subsidised price and the poultry medicines and vaccines at lower doses of 100 dose and up to 500 doses will be of more useful for covering health care aspects of the rural poultry.

Training / technology support:

The rural mass has to be trained in rearing of non descriptive and improved variety in 10 to 20 and in a batch of 100 to 1000 in intensive and semi intensive rearing and they should also be educated in utilizing the cheap and best protein through egg and meat and its importance in human nutrition.