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Indian J. Anim. Hlth. (2015), 54(2) : 89-108 Review Article

AN OVERVIEW OF POULTRY PRODUCTION IN INDIA

R.N. CHATTERJEE* AND U. RAJKUMAR

Directorate of Poultry ResearchRajendranagar, Hyderabad 500030, Telangana

The poultry sector in India has undergone a paradigm shift in structure and operation from a merebackyard activity into a major commercial agri based industry over a period of four decades.Development of high yielding layer (310-340 eggs) and broiler (2.4-2.6 kg at 6 wks) varieties togetherwith standardized package of practices on nutrition, housing, management and disease control havecontributed to spectacular growth rates in egg (4-6% per annum) and broiler production (8-10% perannum) in India. The annual per capita availability also increased to 60 eggs and 2.5 Kg of meat,consistently with increase in productivity. Chicken dominates the poultry production in India withnearly 95% of the total egg production and the rest is contributed by ducks and others. FAO classifiedpoultry production systems into four categories based on the volume of operation and level of biosecurity,i.e., village or backyard production, commercial production with low biosecurity, large scale commercialwith high biosecurity and industrial and integrated production systems. Feed accounts for 65-70% ofbroiler and 75-80% of layer production cost. Maize is the popular cereal used in combination withprotein meal like soybean meal which generally determines the cost of compounded feed. To minimizethe occurrence of disease in poultry the three most important components of disease control are bio-security, vaccination and medication. Bio-security refers to all measures taken to secure prevention ofall types of pathogens in poultry farms. Effective bio-security and implementation of successful hygienicprocedures are increasingly dependent on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point approach (HACCP).There is a worldwide concern to minimize the use of antibiotics in poultry because of disease resistanceand antibiotics residues in food chain. Exports of poultry produce are very low, about Rs.651crores perannum and the trade is very small in global market. Village or backyard poultry production can beadvantageously promoted in rural areas, as the large commercial poultry production continues to beconcentrated in urban and peri - urban locations which has proven to be powerful tool for alleviationof rural poverty, eradication of malnutrition and creation of gainful employment in vast rural areas.The poultry production in India continues to exhibit spectacular growth inspite of several challengesencountered over the years. With increasing demand for chicken egg and meat, the poultry productionin India foresees further expansion and industrialization. With the advent of knowledge in differentfields of poultry, the future challenges will not be a hindrance and thus sees a bright future for poultryproduction in this country.

Key words: Poultry production, Poultry industry, Village poultry, Diseases, Marketing,Feed resources

* Corresponding Author

Indian Journal of Animal Health, December, 2015

Poultry is one of the fastest growingsegments of the agricultural sector in Indiawith around eight percent growth rate perannum. The poultry sector in India hasundergone a paradigm shift in structure andoperation which has been its transformationfrom a mere backyard activity into a majorcommercial agri based industry over aperiod of four decades. The constant effortsin upgradation, modification andapplication of new technologies paved theway for the multifold and multifacetedgrowth in poultry and allied sectors. Thedevelopment is not only in size but also inproductivity, sophistication and quality.Development of high yielding layer (310-340 eggs) and broiler (2.4-2.6 kg at 6 wks)varieties together with standardizedpackage of practices on nutrition, housing,management and disease control havecontributed to spectacular growth rates inegg (4-6% per annum) and broilerproduction (8-10% per annum) in Indiaduring the last 40 years. The annual percapita availability also increased to 60 eggsand 2.5 Kg of meat, consistently withincrease in productivity. However, it is farbelow the recommended level ofconsumption of 180 eggs and 10.8 kgpoultry meat per person per annum byIndian Council Medical Research. Thistransformation has involved sizeableexpansions and investments in breeding,hatching, rearing and processing. India isone of the few countries in the world thathas put into place a sustained SpecificPathogen Free (SPF) egg productionproject.

The growth of the poultry sector in India isalso marked by an increase in the size ofthe poultry farm. In earlier years broilerfarms had produced on average a fewhundred birds (200-500 chicks) per cycle.Today units with fewer than 5,000 birds arebecoming rare, and units with 5,000 to50,000 birds per week cycle are common.Similarly, in layer farms, units with a flocksize of 10,000 to 50,000 birds have becomecommon. Small units are probably findingthemselves at a disadvantage because ofhigh feed and transport costs, expensivevaccines, and veterinary care services andthe non-availability of credit. Some smallunits are reported to be shifting from layerto broiler production because output inbroiler units can be realized in six weeks.

The structure of India’s poultry industryvaries from region to region. Whileindependent and relatively small-scaleproducers account for the bulk ofproduction, integrated large-scale producersaccount for a growing share of output insome regions. Integrators include largeregional farms that incorporate all aspectsof production, including the raising ofgrandparent and parent flocks, rearingDOCs, contracting production,compounding feed, providing veterinaryservices, and wholesaling. The southernregion account for about 57 percent of thecountry’s egg production, the eastern andcentral regions of India account for about17 percent, the northern and westernregions contribute 26percent of eggproduction.

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Current scenarioIndia ranks 3rd in egg production and 7th inchicken meat production in the world (WattExecutive Guide, 2015). About 3.4 milliontons (74 billion) of eggs are produced from260 million layers and 3.8 million tons ofpoultry meat is produced from 3000 millionbroilers per annum in India. The PoultryIndustry is contributing about Rs.70,000/-crores to the national GDP and providingemployment to more than 4 million peopleeither directly or indirectly. About 2-2.5million tons of poultry litter, a valuableorganic fertilizer, is produced as a by-product every year. The poultry industry isconcentrated in certain pockets of thecountry. The State of Andhra Pradesh,Telangana, Tamil Nadu lead the countryfollowed by Maharashtra, Punjab and WestBengal.

The popularity of poultry meat is on therise during the last two decades. It ispresently accounting for about 45% of thetotal meat consumed and is the most popularmeat from any single livestockspecies.Chicken dominates the poultryproduction in India with nearly 95% of thetotal egg production and the rest iscontributed by ducks and others (DADF,2014). Majority of ducks are found incertain states on the eastern and southerncoast like West Bengal, Assam, Orissa,Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu etc.Other species like turkeys, guinea fowls,ostriches, emus etc. are reared only in smallnumbers in areas having specific marketdemand. India is the home for many breeds

of native chicken like Aseel, Kadak Nath,Tellicherry, Haringhata Black, Nicobari,Danki etc., which are still popular amongthe rural and tribal areas for back yard/ freerange farming (Chatterjee and Haunshi,2014). For the commercial farming, highyielding crosses developed and supplied bythe private sector like Babcock, Bovans(egg type) and Cobb, Ross, Hubbard (meattype) are being used. The crosses developedunder the public sector like Krishilayer,Krishibro (multicolored broiler etc.) arepopular in certain areas.

Availability of eggs is highly non-uniform indifferent parts of the country primarily dueto wide variation in the production levels.Much of the eggs produced are consumed bythe urban population while the rural and tribalareas have little access to the eggs and meatproduced from the industrial sources and theavailability is very low. In spite of rapidgrowth, the poultry industry suffered manysetbacks in recent times due to rising costof feed, emergence of new or reemergingof existing diseases, fluctuating marketprice of egg and broilers, etc. which needto be addressed to make the poultry sectoras a sustainable enterprise.

Poultry production systemsThe rapid expansion of poultry productionhas been associated with technologicalchange and increasing scale of productionunits. More specifically, the developmenthas involved a switch in emphasis fromtraditional small-scale production usingdual-purpose indigenous breeds to intensive

Poultry production in India 91

Fig. 2. Per capita availability of eggs in India

(Source: DADF, 2014)Fig. 1 . Trends in egg production over last 6 decades

Indian Journal of Animal Health, December, 2015Poultry production in India

commercial production systems usinghybrid birds specially bred either for meator for egg production. The introduction ofimproved, exotic, genetic material is animportant first step in the growth anddevelopment of the commercial poultrysector. Generally, the new strains are lesshardy and less resistant to endemic diseasesthan indigenous birds. The greaterproductive potential cannot be attainedwithout complementary inputs of speciallycompounded concentrate feeds, andimproved housing, management, andveterinary care. Nonetheless, theintroduction of new genetic material is thefoundation on which other technologicalimprovements are added.

FAO classified poultry production systemsin to four categories based on the volumeof operation and level of biosecurity. Thefour categories are better described as‘sectors’ than as ‘systems’, as increasingcommercialization is associated withincreased segmentation of different stagesin the value chain from input supplythrough to retail delivery of the product(Upton, 2007). Although formal biosecuritymay be higher in industrial/commercialsystems, the greater bird population densitymay increase the probability of infectionand the scale of disease outbreaks that occurin these concentrated production systems(FAO, 2007). Increasing concentration ofproduction is also associated with problemsof waste disposal and soil, air and waterpollution (FAO, 2006). Within each sectorthere is a great deal of variation between

individual types of production system andvalue chains.

Village or backyard productionIndia has nearly 70% of its population livingin rural areas. However, in the presentscenario most of the commercial poultryproduction is concentrated in urban and peri- urban areas. Just 25% population livingin urban areas consumes about 75-80 % ofeggs and poultry meat. Non-availability ofpoultry products and low purchasing powerof the rural people devoid them of accessto the highly nutritious products like eggand meat, thereby, resulting in malnutrition.Free range and small scale semi-commercial back-yard poultry productioncan be advantageously promoted in ruralareas, as the large commercial poultryproduction continues to be concentrated inurban and peri - urban locations. It can beused as a powerful tool for alleviation ofrural poverty, eradication of malnutritionand creation of gainful employment in vastrural areas (Sharma and Chatterjee, 2009;Rajkumar et al., 2010).

The most basic and simple backyardproduction system involving a few hens anda cockerel is essentially a closed system.Home-produced fertile eggs are hatched toprovide replacements, birds feed byscavenging or are provided with householdscraps and crop by-products; there arevirtually no veterinary inputs and theremaining eggs and meat produced areconsumed within the household. Such verysimple subsistence poultry production


systems are probably quite rare. Producerswith even slightly larger flocks, generatecash income from the sale of eggs and birdswithin the local community. Transactionsmay take place directly between producersand consumers, but traders and other marketintermediaries may be involved, selling onto other sectors of the poultry industry.Village or backyard production systems arewidely distributed and exist in both ruraland urban areas. It is estimated that todayin India, about 15 percent of total poultryoutput is derived from “backyard”production (Landes et al., 2004). In areasthat are less densely populated by poultry,“backyard” systems are likely to contributea larger proportion of total poultryproduction. In the village or backyardsector, production is generally based ontraditional local, native breeds, producingboth eggs and birds for meat. In the recentpast, improved backyard varieties (likeVanaraja, Gramapriya, Srinidhi, Girirajaetc.) developed mostly by public sector anda few by private sector (like Kroiler,Rainbow rooster) are substantiallycontributing to the total chicken egg andmeat production of the country.Nonetheless, village or backyardproduction can make a useful contributionto dietary protein intake and incomes ofresource poor households (Acamovic et al.,2005, Rajkumar et al., 2010). Furthermore,given the lower opportunity costs ofresources and the higher market pricesoffered for local poultry, backyard systemsare likely to yield a positive economic

return, despite increasing competition fromthe commercial sectors.

Commercial poultry production with lowbiosecurityThis sector is based on commercialproduction, but it retains somecharacteristics of the traditional, backyardsystems, particularly in selling live birds inwet markets or directly to retail shops.Production units are generally intermediatein scale between backyard systems of up to200 birds and commercial systems of10,000 to 50,000 birds. Levels ofbiosecurity are low, in that birds are oftennot permanently housed, mixed flocks ofchickens and waterfowl may be kept, birdsare generally marketed live, and a range ofdifferent markets, un-monitored for healthrisks, are used for produce sales and inputsupplies (Upton, 2007). The flocks aregenerally reared either for broiler meatproduction or for egg production. Feed isgenerally purchased either as premixedrations or as raw materials for home millingand mixing. In India, the smallerindependent commercial producers are ofregional importance in the north and eastof the country, where integrated contractproduction has not become established.Market limitations arise in countries, likeIndia, where there is a consumer preferencefor live birds, rather than dressed, chilledor frozen carcasses. In India, it is suggestedthat relatively small-scale producers are ata disadvantage in facing high feed andtransport costs, limited access to vaccines



and veterinary services, and shortage ofcredit (Upton, 2007)

Large-scale commercial with highbiosecurityThis sector consists of the generally larger-scale (50,000 to 1.00 lakh birds)commercial flocks of broilers, layers orbreeding birds. Only relatively wealthyindividuals or commercial joint-stockcompanies have the necessary investmentfunds or can raise sufficient credit for theselarger-scale investments. Biosecurity levelsare defined as high, as birds arecontinuously housed, strictly preventingcontact with other flocks or with wildlife.Despite this, many outbreaks of HPAIappear to have started in large-scalecommercial flocks. Inputs are generallysupplied and products marketed throughformal market agencies. The scale andintensity of production is substantiallyhigher in the commercial and industrialsectors than in backyard systems.Advantages are derived from economies ofscale, providing scope for specialization anddivision of labour between the differentstages in the production process, leading toautomation of operations and labour-costsavings. These advantages add to thosederived from the use of highly productivecommercial hybrid chicks and improvedtechnologies such as the evaporativecooling or air-conditioning of poultryhouses. The four southern states, wherepoultry densities and flock sizes are high,together contribute 57 percent of thenation’s egg production (FAO, 2007).

Industrial and integrated productionThis sector consists of the largest and mostindustrialized (more than 1.00 lakh birds)enterprises in the poultry industry. Thevarious stages in the value chain arevertically integrated into a single industrialcompany. The broiler or layer componentsare either fully integrated as part of theparent company, or are separate productionunits operating under contract to the parentcompany, it has been assumed that althoughthe whole process, from chick breeding andhatching through to distribution andretailing is integrated in a singleorganization, feed milling remains as aseparate business enterprise. In manyinstances, the feed and poultry productionactivities are integrated, together with‘horizontal’ links to other sectors. In othercases, vertical integration is partial – frombreeder down to broiler grower, or frommarket distributor up to broiler producer.Vertical integration yields financial benefitsby reducing the operational costs atdifferent stages of the value chain. In non-integrated poultry systems, transaction costsare likely to be high because of: (1)frequency and regularity of transactionsresulting from the cyclical nature of poultryproduction; (2) the risks of disease andmarket price fluctuations; and (3) theinvestment in very specific types of assets,or ‘asset specificity’, involved in poultryproduction, processing and marketing(Williamson and Masten, 1995; Dorwardet al., 1998). In these circumstances, thevertical integration of the different stagesof the breeding, production, processing and

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marketing of poultry produce is a rationaleconomic response, which should increaseefficiency and reduce unit costs. In India,substantial numbers of integrated poultryproduction companies have beenestablished, particularly in the four southernstates (Landes et al., 2004).

The introduction of improved, exotic,genetic material is an important first stepin the growth and development of thecommercial poultry sector. Generally, the

new strains are less hardy and less resistantto endemic diseases than indigenous birds.The greater productive potential cannot beattained without complementary inputs ofspecially compounded concentrate feeds,and improved housing, management, andveterinary care. Nonetheless, theintroduction of new genetic material is thefoundation on which other technologicalimprovements are added. The dynamicchanges and trends in poultry are presentedin Table 1 and 2.

Table 1. Trends in layer industry

Sl No Parameter 1990 2015

1 Layers (crores) 10 262 Eggs per hen 260 3303 Separate brooding (%) 10 804 Feed automation (%) 10 805 Feed price (Rs) per Kg 12 226 Egg price (Rs) 1.5 3.27 Eggs cleaning and packing No Important

Table 2. Trends in broiler industry

Sl No Parameter 1990 2015

1 Broiler parents housed (crores) 0.7 3.42 Broilers placements per month 5 253 FCR 2.2 1.64 Feed price per Kg (Rs) 20 285 Body weight (kg) 42 days 1.5 2.56 Broiler price / Kg live(Rs) 25 707 Broiler integration 0 608 Slaughter age 48 389 Antibiotics Nil 50



Native chicken and their conservation

A total of sixteen native chicken breedshave been recognized and registered asindigenous breeds of chicken in India(Table 3). Among them, most popularbreeds are Aseel, Kadaknath, HaringhataBlack, Nicobari, Ghagus, Tellicherry, etc.

Some of the lesser known native chickenecotypes reported in the literature areKumaon hill fowl, Tripura black, Titri,Teni, Brown Desi, besides native chickens/ ecotypes with major genes such as nakedneck and frizzle. Large chunk of native

Table 3. Registered native chicken breeds of India

Sl. No. Breed Home Tract

1 Ankaleshwar Gujarat2 Aseel Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Chhattisgarh3 Busra Gujarat and Maharashtra4 Chittagong Meghalaya and Tripura5 Danki Andhra Pradesh6 Daothigir Assam7 Ghagus Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka8 Harringhata Black West Bengal9 Kadaknath Madhya Pradesh10 Kalasthi Andhra Pradesh11 Kashmir Favorolla Jammu and Kashmir12 Miri Assam13 Nicobari Andaman & Nicobar14 Punjab Brown Punjab and Haryana15 Tellichery Kerala16 Mewari Rajasthan

(Source: http://www.nbagr.res.in/regchi.html)

chickens are also of nondescript type(Chatterjee and Haunshi, 2014).Some of the native chicken breeds of Indiaare under threat of extinction due to variousfactors including incidence of diseases likeAvian Influenza and other emerging andre-emerging diseases. Therefore, it is

essential to take steps to conserve them. Insitu conservation is the most ideal andpreferred method of conservation ofbiodiversity of any germplsam. However,due to increasing urbanization there isincreasing pressure on agricultural and

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fallow lands leading to high costinvolvement and hence it is becomingdifficult to conserve native chicken at theirnative tracts. Furthermore, introduction ofexotic/improved germplasm is diluting oreroding the genetic base of native chickens.Alternatively, ex-situ conservationmeasures can aid in situ conservation ofgermplasm as it acts as insurance policy inthe event of extinction/dilution of the nativechickens. Native chickens so conservedcould be used in future in recovery/reintroduction programs. However, ex-situconservation in poultry species is a difficulttask (Chatterjee and Haunshi, 2014).

Feed Resources

Success on poultry production restsprimarily on the quality of the birdemployed, comforting environment andprovision for good feed, the last being mostexpensive of all other inputs, deservesbefitting attention. Feed accounts for 65-70% of broiler and 75-80% of layerproduction cost. Maize is the popular cerealused in combination with protein meal likesoybean meal which generally determinesthe cost of compounded feed. Productionof maize increased from 9.65 million tonsin 1989-90 to only 24.4 million tons in2015. Similarly, soybean meal productionincreased to 11.35 million ton in 2015 from3.52 million tons in 1999-2000. Averageincrease in maize availability has been 3.8%per annum which is far below the growthrate of egg or meat production. Thus, thereis a need to increase the production of maize

and soybean or explores the usefulness ofother alternate energy and protein richfeedstuffs to maize and soybean meal,respectively, in poultry diets.

In view of the large gap between thedemand and availability of feedstuffs forpoultry production, a holistic approach isneeded to meet the demand of ever growingpoultry industry. Some of the approachesin these respects are

Identification of newer feedresources - Since the production ofcereals and oil seeds may notincrease significantly, theavailability of grain and oil seedmeal to feed industry is expected todecrease. This would lead toescalation in the cost of feedingredients and consequently thecost of eggs and meat. To someextent such a situation can becorrected by developing strains thatneed less feed input. However,alternate feed ingredients that arenot related to human consumptionand available in plenty should beidentified and their suitabilityshould be tested including theeconomic aspects.

Utilization of structuralcarbohydrates and phytatephosphorus - With theadvancement of technology, thereduction in dependency of poultry


on the storage plant carbohydrate,protein or other nutrient and toallow them to make greater use ofstructural carbohydrates and othernutrients. Hence the dimensionfrom research should change fromas such providing feed thantechnologies that utilize feed better.There are many components of feedsuch as ß-glycans, pentosans,mannans, cellulose, lignin andphytic acid which cannot bedigested by poultry under normally.These non digestible feedingredients frequently generatedigestive stress in poultry with aconsequent reduction in nutrientutilization and wet litter problems.These problems could be largelyalleviated by use of feed enzymes.

Overcoming limitations of Agro-industrial byproducts andunconventional feed stuff - Thenutritive value of a variety of maizeand soybean meal replacers hasbeen examined and despite theirpotential, the utilization in practicalformulations is negligible due toconstraints imposed by several anti-nutritional, technical and socio-economic factors. These constraintsneed to be resolved by the feedindustry utilizing the services ofscientists, planners and policymakers.

Disease management

Management of diseases in poultry playsan important role for the progress of theindustry. Birds in the commercial farms arereared in open sided houses and maintainedunder optimum management conditions.Birds are reared under veterinarysupervision. Vaccination is regularlypracticed to protect the bird againstdiseases. In spite of all the measures, thepoultry industry in India suffered a majorsetback last year due to the outbreak ofAvian Influenza. The industry sufferedserious trade losses following downfall inconsumption of poultry meat and eggs forabout 6 months.

To minimize the occurrence of disease inpoultry the three most importantcomponents of disease control are bio-security, vaccination and medication. Bio-security refers to all measures taken tosecure prevention of all types of pathogensin poultry farms. Effective bio-security andimplementation of successful hygienicprocedures are increasingly dependent onHazard Analysis Critical Control Pointapproach (HACCP). The principles ofHACCP such as hazard analysis, criticalcontrol points, critical limits, correction,recording and verification should be strictlyfollowed for analyzing risk assessment andrisk management. Vaccination should bepracticed regularly following the regulatoryprocedures.


Priorities for effective disease managementin making the poultry industry a sustainableenterprise are

Trans-boundary disease – Many ofthe diseases which are not endemic toIndia (Avian Influenza, VVND) mayenter through germplasm andbiologicals. This need strictquarantine measures.

Establishing and strengtheningsurveillance and monitoring system –The surveillance and monitoringsystem should be carried out inestablished laboratories. There is needto establish a National Avian DiseaseLaboratory with all modern facilitiesfor surveillance and monitoring ofinfectious disease in poultry.

Diagnoses through genomicapproach – Efforts may be made todevelop new diagnostics andbiological using genomic approachesfor rapid and accurate diagnosis andeffective control of poultry disease.

Impact of climate change on Poultry

Climate change is a shift in the averageweather condition in a given area over aperiod of time. The change is persistent inthe mean of climate parameters viz.,temperature, rainfall, humidity and soilmoisture (Alade and Adamola 2013).

Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH

4),

Nitrogen oxide (N2O) and other green house

gases increased as an outcome of climatechange. Climate change in many parts ofthe world adversely affects socio-economicsectors which include water resources,agriculture, forestry, fisheries animalhusbandry and poultry. Farmers are facinga lot of challenges due to climate variationand it may not be clear in empirical termswhat loss farmers incur but it is known tocause more harm to their production.Livestock production accounts for 18percent of global anthropogenic GreenHouse Gases (GHG) emissions of whichcattle contribute major share, while poultrycontributes only 8% to the livestockemissions (Steinfeld et al., 2006). Poultry(chicken) are more vulnerable to climatechange because birds can only toleratenarrow temperature ranges. In the 20th

century, there was an increase of 0.65 ºCin the average global temperature and0.2 % to 0.3 % increase of precipitation inthe tropical region. Poultry are not welladapted to high ambient temperaturesbecause they lack sweat glands. The internalbody temperature of chickens (41-42ºC) ishigher than that of mammalian livestockand humans (36-39ºC). Poultry haveconsiderably less threshold to heat stress ascompared with other animals.

The importance of animal responses toenvironmental challenges applies to allspecies. However, poultry seems to beparticularly sensitive to temperature-associated environmental challenges,


especially heat stress. It has been suggestedthat modern poultry genotypes producemore body heat, due to their greatermetabolic activity. In general, differenttypes of birds react similarly to heat stress,expressing some individual variation inintensity and duration of their responses.Birds subjected to heat stress conditionsspend less time for feeding, more time fordrinking and panting, as well as more timewith their wings elevated, less time movingor walking, and more time resting.Increased temperature had significantadverse effects on both broiler and layerproduction. Heat stress impairs overallpoultry meat and egg production bymodifying the bird’s neuro-endocrineprofile both by decreased feed intake andby activation of the HPA axis. This leadsto reduced feed intake, excessive pantingto maintain thermo regulation and divertingmore energy towards homeostasis insteadof growth and production. However, eventhough the detrimental effects of heat stressin broilers seem to be very consistent, it isimportant to consider that stocking densityhas a major role as a potential compoundingfactor, both from the standpoint ofproductivity as well as welfare. The chronicheat exposure negatively affects fatdeposition and meat quality in broilers, ina breed-dependent manner.

Maintaining the in house temperatures isvery important for sustaining theproductivity from the birds. In extremesummers, summer management through

spreading the paddy/wheat straw on roofsand sprinkling water on the roofs maintainsthe temperatures. Effective crossventilation, use of coolers and foggers isalso recommended. In winters, generallygunny bags are used to cover the sidesespecially in high raised poultry houses.

Nutrition management can also allowimprovement to feed conversion ratiosthrough optimal diet balancing and feedingregimes, and improvement to feeddigestibility. Feeding the antioxidants likevitamin E, plant extracts and trace mineralslike selenium, chromium, zinc etc. reducesthe stress condition and improves the heattolerance in birds. Many researchersformulating feeds that closely match thenutritional requirements of birds in theirdifferent production and growth stages toreduce the amount of nutrients excreted.

Food safety

Reduction of antibiotics use in animal feeddemands substantial improvement of herdhealth issues, but also sensible andprofessional management of theantimicrobial drugs is necessary to preventthe threats of antibiotic resistance in humanbeing. Antimicrobial drugs may be used foreffective therapeutic and prophylaxispurposes, but the pulsing or continuous useof antibiotics in-feed has been severelyquestioned, besides public health issues,because of the consequences in intestinalmicrobiota and the gastrointestinal barrierharmonic function. There is a worldwide


concern to minimize the use of antibioticsin poultry because of disease resistance andantibiotics residues in food chain. In suchcase suitable alternatives need to beexplored, which could be beneficial andcost effective. Many products of such naturelike probiotics, gut acidifiers,immunomodulators, eubiotics, organicacids etc. are available in the market, butneed further research. Ensuring safe foodis paramount for the protection of humanhealth and for enhancement of the qualityof life. Safe food plays an important role,whether domestically produced andconsumed, imported or exported. Inaddition, the production of safe foodrepresents an opportunity for incomegeneration and market access. Over the lastdecades, the food chain approach has beenrecognized as an important step forward toensure food safety from production up toconsumption. This approach requires thecommitment of all players in the food chain,involving producers, traders, processors,distributors, competent authorities as wellas consumers.The role of animal feed in theproduction of safe food is also recognizedworldwide, and several events haveunderlined its impacts on public health, feedand food trade, and food security. Concernsprompted by the outbreak of bovinespongiform encephalopathy (BSE), andother more common food problemsassociated with Salmonella,enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli andother contaminants, have encouragedprofessionals and the feed industry to

scrutinize more closely the causes of thesediseases and methods for their control.

Marketing

Though, commercial production of eggsand chicken meat on scientific principleshas been well standardized, marketing ofeggs and broiler meat are not fullyorganized except few in urban sectors. Eggsare still transported in open condition andin un-refrigerated vehicles. Eggs are soldas commodity in India and purchased byconsumers mostly from shop next door fordaily needs. Eggs are channeled throughwholesale dealers, sub-dealers, retailers etc.in two to three stages, which raises the costof eggs by 10-15% over the actual sale priceat producer’s place. Broilers are sold liveor slaughtered at the place of sale.Sometimes the birds are dressed anddisplayed for sale in the open air withoutany concern for hygiene. Similarly eggs aresold in open without consideration forpreservation of their quality. Seasonalvariations in consumption and demand ofeggs and meat pose greatest challenge tothe stabilization of prices. The fluctuationsat times go to the extent of up to 25-30% ina short period of 3-4 weeks. Thus, there isa need to strengthen the marketing system.Some of the approaches in this directionare

Development of reliable and stablemarket chain round the year formarketing of poultry products.


Facilities for hygienic slaughter andpreservation of eggs should be madeavailable at market places in bothurban and rural areas.

Formation of producer co-operatives/associations and rural market yardswill help in proper marketing.

National Egg CoordinationCommittee, a farmers’ cooperativeagency has been contributing to theimprovement in marketing of eggs.However, more systematizedmarketing strategy and the state’sinvolvement in minimizing thechannels are required for makingpoultry farming remunerative and costeffective in the years to come.

Because of the location of farms inurban and peri -urban areas that tooconcentrated in few states, availabilityof eggs and chicken meat are high inthese areas only, but in rural areas andrest of the country the availability islow. Thus, there is a vast scope to tapthe rural markets and remote areas ofthe country where availability is low.

Processing and exports

Trading of chicken in India is primarilydone in number and not by weight at thewholesale level. Live and fresh dressed

broilers account for the bulk of sales andsale of processed meat is limited (below10%). However, acceptance of processedchicken is on the rise, particularly in theurban markets. Due to pollution andenvironmental concerns, slaughtering ofbirds under unhygienic conditions at openplaces is being discouraged. Thus, the saleof slaughtered chicken is expected toincrease. Hence, there is a need to developprocessing facilities. Hence, there is anurgent need of many chicken processingplants in the near future and sale ofprocessed chicken to increase both to caterdomestic as well as export markets.

A few plants for processing eggs have beeninstalled using state of the art machinery insome states with an average daily turnovercapacity of 0.7 - 0.8 million eggs. Wholeegg powder, yolk powder, egg weightpowder, lysozyme etc. are being producedunder high standards of operation. Eggpowder from India is well accepted in EU,Japan and Far-east. However, to tap theinternational market there is a need toestablish many more egg processing plants.It has been told that India is geographicallyideally located to cater to the Middle Eastand far eastern countries for shell eggs.Therefore vast scope exists to increase theexport of shell eggs from India to thesecountries.

Exports of poultry produce are very low,about Rs.651crores per annum and the tradeis very small in global market (Shukla andNayak, 2015). At present mainly table eggs(UAE, Kuwait and Oman), hatching eggs


(UAE, Oman and Kuwait) and egg powder(Japan, Poland, Belgium and UAE) areexported from India. Our major marketsMiddle East and Asia. Egg powder isexported to Japan and EU. India has infrastructure to export eggs including allprimary packaging mechanism and coldchain to deliver top quality produce tocustomers.

Organic poultry production

Consumer awareness is growing in termsof organic food products in recent years asalmost all the food ingredients are grownunder intense production systems whichutilize lot of chemicals and pesticides tocontrol the pests and diseases. Organicfarming can be defined as an approach toagriculture where the aim is to createintegrated, humane, environmentally andeconomically sustainable agriculturalproduction systems producing acceptablelevels of crop, livestock and humannutrition, protection from pests anddiseases, and an appropriate return to thehuman and other resources employed(Lampkin, 1997). Maximum reliance isplaced on locally or farm-derived,renewable resources and the managementof self-regulating ecological and biologicalprocesses and interactions. The usage ofchemical and other external inputs arereduced as far as possible. Organicagriculture is known as ecologicalagriculture, reflecting this reliance onecosystem management rather than external

inputs. In India free range farming isconsidered to be organic if birds are rearedwithout any medication and other feedcompounds. Some of the important aspectsof organic poultry are as follows-

Management of poultry underbackyard / free-range. Forsupplementary feeding, organicallyproduced feed ingredients should begiven. For medication, if any, herbalproducts may be used.

Maintenance of health throughpreventive management, biosecurityand good husbandry practices topreventive treatment, therebyreducing the potential for thedevelopment of resistance totherapeutic medicines as well ascontamination of workers, foodproducts and the environment.

Housing systems which allow naturalbehaviour patterns to be used and givehigh priority to animal welfareconsiderations, with the emphasis onfree-range systems for poultry.

Value addition in Poultry

Value addition in poultry plays in importantrole in increasing the profits. The valueaddition may be through nutritionalmanipulations, processing and transgenesis.Omega-3 enriched eggs and meats areavailable in the market for premium pricedeveloped by nutritional approaches.


Feeding the chicks with rich sources ofomega-3 fatty acids will aid in increasingthe levels of omega-3 fatty acids in eggsand meat of the birds. Experiments onfortification of Zinc and Vitamin B

12 in

chicken egg and meat through dietarymanipulation for enhanced value additionand shelf life are going on and needcommercialization. The second one isthrough biotechnological approaches,where in the gene (inter species) responsiblefor specific trait can be made throughtransgenesis. However, this approach is stillin primitive stage where in research is beingcarried out. The commonly utilized methodfor value addition is processing of thepoultry products. By value addition lowvalued meats and by products can processedin to a highly nutritious finished productsadding to the returns.

Welfare concerns in Poultry

Welfare of poultry has become an importantissue in recent days since EU banned cagerearing of birds. Animal welfare activistsincreasingly argue that rearing of these highproducing and rapid growing birds inintensive system of rearing resulted in someof the welfare and health issues which werenot apparent in slow growing extensivelyreared birds. Animal welfare activists allegethat the welfare of birds reared particularlyin conventional cages (CC) iscompromised. The space provided in CCis not sufficient for birds to do normal

activities such as to stand, lie down, andturn around without touching each other andsides of the enclosure (Chatterjee andHaunshi, 2015). The birds kept in CC donot have sufficient space to express theirnatural or highly motivated and comfortbehaviours. Highly motivated or internallydriven and comfort behaviours in layinghens are nesting behaviour, preening, dustbathing, wing flapping, wing stretching,foraging, pecking, etc. Wing flapping isoften referred to as “comfort” (stretching)behaviour, Wing flapping requires morespace than wing stretching (one wingstretched downward) and wing raising(slight elevation of both wings). All thesebehaviours are not seen in birds kept inconventional cages.

Broilers are reared mostly on floor in opensided houses for a short period of time i.e.up to 6 weeks of age. Hence, welfare issuesin broiler production are entirely different.Genetic selection for higher body weightover the last 50 years resulted in increasein growth rate by over 300% from 25 g perday to 100 g per day (Nicol, 2013). Thisphenomenal increase in growth rate ofbroilers resulted in emergence of metabolicdisorders such as ascites and sudden deathsyndrome (Bessei, 2006). Other welfareproblems are leg disorders and lameness inthe fast growing broilers and hunger in thebroiler breeders (Weeks and Butterworth,2004). Extreme hunger in broiler breedersdue to feed restriction to preventaccumulation of fat and in-turn affecting


the egg production is considered to be oneof the welfare concerns in broiler breeders.Incidence of contact dermatitis(Pododermititis) that includes hock burns,breast blisters and foot pad lesions isconsidered to be another welfare issue.

Policy makers should consider both positiveand negative aspects of the problem beforemaking a decision on the issue related tocages. A layer bird producing 330 eggsannually in a conventional cage and abroiler growing at rapid rate (2.5 kg in 42days) in itself is very good example thatthe birds are quite comfortable. One cannotimagine a spectacular productivity frombirds if the birds are under stress oruncomfortable (Chatterjee and Haunshi,2015).

Challenges

In spite of rapid growth, the poultry industrysuffered many setbacks in recent times dueto rising cost of feed, emergence of new orreemerging of existing diseases, fluctuatingmarket price of egg and broilers, etc. whichneed to be addressed to make the poultrysector as a sustainable enterprise. Issuesrelating to animal welfare andenvironmental pollution by poultry unitshave been of increasing concern.

A major constraint affecting thegrowth of the poultry industry in Indiais the lack of basic infrastructure suchas storage and transportation,including cold chain. As a result, thereare wide price fluctuations in theprices of poultry products, i.e., eggsand broilers.

An inefficient marketing system- Thepresence of so many marketintermediaries harms both theproducer and the consumer.

The price and availability of feedresources- Maize or corn plays a majorrole in broiler production, as itconstitutes 50 to 55 percent of broilerfeed. As the broiler industry isgrowing at the rate of 8-10 percent perannum, the demand for maize andsoya is thus likely to increase.

Emerging and re-emerging diseases ofpoultry-Mutations in viral genomesleading to new variants in viruses anddeveloping resistance to vaccines andantibiotics. Avian Influenza outbreaksoccurring in parts of India, is a verygood example.

The policy measures that are required toimprove the poultry industry must involve:(a) improving infrastructure facilities,which will help not only to stabilize the


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Conclusions

The poultry production in India continuesto exhibit spectacular growth in spite ofseveral challenges encountered over the

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Article received on 27.11.2015 and accepted for publication on 13.12.2015


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