ANIMAL HUSBANDRY INFORMATION

POULTRY

Government Schemes and Programmes

Poultry Development activities in the State aims at increasing the egg production, production and distribution of chicks and good quality poultry meat, impart training on Scientific Poultry Rearing and Management, encouraging unemployed youth and members of weaker sections of society to take up poultry rearing and gain self employment, assisting women to start backyard poultry units etc. To carry out the development activities there are nine poultry farms, one Broiler Farm, One Duck Farm, One Central Hatchery and two Intensive Poultry Development Blocks under the Department. They are

Regional Poultry Farm, Kudappanakkunnu

Major activities are production and distribution of layer chicks and eggs. This farm has 2 Sub Centres - Ulloor, Kanjiramkulam.

Regional Poultry Farm, Kureeppuzha, Kollam

This farm is capable of rearing 40,000 birds at a time. A Turkey Rearing Unit is also attached to this Farm. One hatching section is attached to this farm for hatching of both poultry and turkey eggs. The farm impacts training and technical knowledge on scientific rearing of turkey.

Regional Poultry Farm, Manarcaud, Kottayam

Production and distribution of chicks and eggs is the activity of this farm also.

District Poultry Farm, Idukki

The main activity is rearing of chicks and distribution under Departmental Schemes.

Regional Poultry Farm, Koovappadi, Ernakulam

Production and distribution of eggs and chicks are the main activities.

Regional Poultry Farm, Malampuzha, Palakkad

This farm also produces and distributes chicks and birds.

District Poultry Farm, Athavanad, Malappuram

These chicks from other institutions are received and reared here and distributed for schemes.

Regional Poultry Farm, Chathamangalam, Kozhikode

Production and distribution of chicks and eggs is the activity of this farm.

Regional Poultry Farm, Mundayad, Kannur

Here also chicks and eggs are produced and distributed.

Broiler Farm, Pettah

This farm is the only one Broiler Farm under the Animal Husbandry Department. Production and distribution of Broiler chicken and egg is the main activity of this farm. There are three extension units at Payattuvila, Peroorkada and Thiruvallom.

Duck Farm, Niranam

The aim of the farm is to preserve different varieties and breeds of chicks, improve the quality of ducks reared for eggs and meat purpose and popularize duck farming. The different breeds of ducks reared in the farm are Desi, White pekkins and Kakki campbell and Vigora Super-M.

Central Hatchery, Chengannur

The main objective of this major institution of Animal Husbandry Department is to produce good quality chicks. The following institutions are also functioning in the

• Central Hatchery Complex
• Feed Compounding Factory
• Feed Testing Laboratory
• Mobile Veterinary Hospital
• Chick Sexing School
• Poultry Training Institute

A Quail Production Unit is also functioning here

Intensive Poultry Development Blocks

Extending financial assistance to establish new poultry units, production and distribution of good quality feed, marketing of eggs, chicks and dressed chicken, extension work and training on poultry rearing etc. are objectives of the IPD Blocks established in the State.

1. Pettah, Thiruvananthapuram (1956)
2. Muvattupuzha, Ernakulam (1963)

Disease Investigation and Control Programme

Objectives of disease investigation are the following: Investigate the causes of out break of diseases among Livestock and Poultry, Co-ordinate the investigation work and suggest control and eradication measures, Mass Vaccination of cattle and poultry against various contagious diseases, establish the infrastructure for disease surveillance, study Epidemiology and other factors relating to various Livestock and Poultry diseases etc.

Various schemes have been implemented for the effective control of various Livestock and Poultry diseases through different institutions such as

Avian Disease Diagnostic Lab, Thiruvalla

Disease Investigation and Disease Control are the main objective of this Laboratory, which is functioning under the control of a Deputy Director.

Central Government Schemes and Programmes

Central Poultry Development Organisations (Regional Directorate on Poultry Development)

Twelve Poultry Units working under this Department have been restructured by clubbing the Units of respective regions and named as Central Poultry Development Organizations, so as to converge the poultry development activities in a single window system. These organizations are now operating to meet the followingrequirements of their respective region.

• Making available quality chicks: At regional centre, identified low-input technology poultry stocks will be multiplied and supplied to all States of the region for their rural poultry development programs. These organizations procure breeding stock of low input technology developed by ICAR, Agriculture Universities, private sectors, NGOs etc.

• Diversification program: So far poultry development has been concentrated on only one of the species i.e. chicken. This Department has identified diversification of this program as a thrust area and other species such as Duck and Turkey (Southern region), Japanese Quail (Northern and Western region) and Guinea fowl and Duck (Eastern region) will be suitably strengthened.

• Strengthening of Feed quality monitoring wing: The feed analytical laboratories are concentrating their activities on analysis of various feed/feed ingredients and developing least cost feed formulation based on locally available ingredients.

• Training Program: The training programme is being suitably tailor-made at all the regional Centres to meet the requirement of trainers, farmers, women beneficiaries, various public and private sector poultry organizations, NGOs, Banks, Cooperatives and foreign trainees etc. Need-based and flexible training courses will be evolved as per the requirement of the Industry. For the first time, industry sponsored 25 candidates were trained for 'feed analysis'.

• Random Sample Tests: The Random Poultry Performance Testing Center located at Gurgaon, Haryana is being strengthened to convert the center to National level standards providing all modern facilities in the areas of housing, feeding, watering so as to enable the department to test regularly the various stocks available in the country as well as imported from outside India by various poultry industrial sectors so as to assess the performance of those stocks in India and also the center will be helpful for monitoring the disease status.

1. Conservation of poultry breeds: Government of India has introduced a new project under 10th plan to conserve the near extinct and threatened breeds using modern scientific conservation tools like cryo-preservation of semen/ Ova/ Embryo. Various indigenous breeds of ducks can be conserved through this scheme.
2. Expansion of Poultry and Duck Farms: Outlay is to implement Schemes for strengthening poultry and duck farms as per the guidelines of Govt. of India.
3. Assistance to States poultry farms: During the X Plan, the Centrally Sponsored Scheme “Assistance to state poultry farms” was launched in all the States and UTs to strengthen existing poultry farms including other species like ducks, turkey, quails, guinea fowl etc. The pattern of assistance is 100% for North Eastern States and 80:20 for other States. The scheme will also apply to the farms of the State Governments who may run in collaboration with cooperatives/private sector/NGOs etc. One time assistance is provided to suitably strengthen hatching, brooding and rearing operations with feed mill, quality monitoring and in-house disease diagnoses provisions. Breeding stock to be maintained is stipulated to be strictly of low input technology. Target group should be as far as possible, marginal farmers, landless labourers, women in groups only and from other socially backward sections of the society. A provision of Rs.15.00 lakh as revolving fund for making the Scheme self-sustainable is also made. During 2003-04, 30 farms were assisted for strengthening and total sanctions worth Rs.14.37 crores were released for the same.

Financial Assistance from NABARD

NABARD has various schemes for promoting Poultry sector. The major thrust area include

• Establishing of poultry breeding farm with low input technology birds and also for Ducks/Quails/ Turkeys/ Guinea Fowl etc.
• Setting up of a poultry feed plant along with a laboratory
• Setting up of egg grading, packing and storing unit for export of eggs.
• Marketing of Poultry products (specialized transport vehicle, cold room storage facilities and retention sheds for birds).
• Establishing retail poultry dressing unit (300-500 birds/day).
• Purchase of egg/broiler carts for sale of poultry products
• Incentive on export of poultry products (freight charges)
• Purchase of reading material and A.V. equipment for training and extensions activities

Financial asistance from NABARD for poultry development

Dairy/Poultry Venture Capital Fund

To bring about structural changes in the unorganized sector, a new scheme of Dairy Venture Capital Fund with an outlay of Rs.25.00 crore during the 10th Five Year Plan has been initiated with effect from 14th December 2004. Under this, assistance is provided to the rural beneficiaries under a schematic proposal through bankable projects.