1

THE RELEVANCE OF BACKYARD AND SMALL

SCALE POULTRY PROJECTS TO
SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD IN TWO
PANCHAYATHS IN THRISSUR DISTRICT

Deepa G Menon

THESIS
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the
requirement for the course
APPRECIATION PROGRAMME
ON
SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE
(Programme Code: APSS)

AN IGNOU INITIATIVE FOR OUR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

IN COLLABORATION WITH

M S SWAMINATHAN RESEARCH FOUNDATION, CHENNAI

2009

Indira Gandhi national Open University, Maidan

Garhi, NewDelhi
 2

The relevance of backyard and

small scale poultry projects to
sustainable livelihood in two
Panchayaths in Thrissur District
 3

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

This is to certify that the project report entitled “The relevance of backyard and small scale
poultry projects to sustainable livelihood in two Panchayaths in Thrissur District” submitted
to the Indira Gandhi National Open University, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi – 110068 in partial
fulfilment of the requirement for the programme is an original work carried out by Deepa G
Menon with enrolment no 093569130 under the guidance of Dr P Anitha.
The matter embodied in this project is genuine work done by the student and has not been
submitted either to this University or to any other University / Institute for the fulfilment of
the requirement of any course of study.

Date:25/05/09
Name Address &
Designation of the student
Name and Address of the Guide
Deepa G Menon Dr P Anitha
Assistant Professor, Associate Professor,
Department of Poultry Science, Centre for Advanced Studies in
Kerala Agricultural University, Poultry Science,
Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala Kerala Agricultural University,
Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala
 4

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my deep and sincere

gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. P Anitha Associate
Professor Department of Poultry Science, College
of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Mannuthy. Her
understanding, encouraging and personal
guidance have provided a good basis for the
present thesis.

I wish to express my warm and sincere thanks to

Professor E Nanu, Dean, College of Veterinary &
Animal Sciences, Mannuthy for permitting me to
join this course.

I am deeply grateful to my Professors Dr. A

Jalaludeen and Dr. P A. Peethambaran, Centre for
Advanced Studies in Poultry Science for their
detailed, constructive comments and important
support throughout this work.

I owe my most sincere gratitude to Dr U S.

Ramachandran, whose ideals and concepts have
had a remarkable influence on my entire career.

I am thankful to Dr P D Suresh, Dr Baburaj,Dr Joy

George, who gave me untiring help during my
work. I warmly thank my colleagues Dr. Anish D,
Dr Geetha R, and Dr. Radhika for their valuable
 5

advice and friendly help. The extensive

discussions around my work and interesting
explorations in operations have been very helpful
for this study.

My warm thanks are due to Ambili, a good friend

and colleague who was kind enough to help and
support me.

My sincere thanks are due to the official referees

for their detailed review, constructive criticism
and excellent advice during the preparation of
this thesis.
I also wish to thank Dr. Baburaj, Dr
Sethumadhavan, Dr Joy George, for their
continued support and guidance has been of
great value in this study.

During this work I have collaborated with many

colleagues for whom I have great regard, and I
wish to extend my warmest thanks to all those
who have helped me with my work.

I owe my thanks to my family members, my sons

Roshan and Aaryan. Without their encouragement
and understanding it would have been impossible
for me to finish this work. My special gratitude is
 6

due to Mr. Musa Isaacs and Mr. Farook Qureshi for

their constant encouragement and affection.
 7

Sl No Table of contents
Page

1. INTRODUCTION
11
2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
19
3. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
29
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
31
5. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
36
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
75
7. CONCLUSION
79
8. SUMMARY
81
9. REFERENCES
84
10. APPENDIX
86
 8

LIST OF TABLES
Table no Title Page
1 Year-wise Estimate of Egg production 13
2 Profile of Thrissur District 17
3 Observed frequencies and percentages 36
of Variables studied among farmers
4 Production performance of standard 48
birds
5 Observed frequencies and percentages 51
of variables among integrators
6 Details of poultry projects in 58
Panchayath-I
7 Details of poultry projects in 61
Panchayath-II
8 Economics of backyard poultry units 67
9 Economics of broiler production 69
10 Ratings of constraints faced by poultry 70
 9

farmers
11 Constraints felt by broiler farmers 71
 10

LIST OF FIGURES
Table no Title Page
1 Family size of the respondents 37
2 Experience of the respondents in 38
poultry rearing
3 Details of pullets distributed in the last 58
five years
4 Details of pullets distributed in the last 62
five years in Panchayath-II
5 Split up of cost of production in 68
backyard units
6 Ratings of constraints faced by poultry 70
farmers
7 Ratings of Constraints felt by broiler 71
farmers
 11

Preface

This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the course Appreciation Programme on
Sustainability Science submitted to Indira Gandhi National
Open University. The matter embodied in this project is
genuine work done by me and has not been submitted to this
University or to any other University / Institute for the
fulfilment of the requirement of any course of study.

This thesis is the final work of my study of done in

collaboration with the Department of Animal Husbandry,
Local self governments, Government of Kerala. It serves as
documentation of my project work, which has been made from
my detailed discussions with veterinarians, poultry farmers,
kudumbasree members, trainees, entrepreneurs, and subject
matter specialists. The study has been a part of my job as a
scientist at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Poultry
Science, Mannuthy.

The thesis consists of ten chapters which cover various aspects

of rural poultry production scenario in some Panchayaths of
Thrissur district. My supervisor on the project has been Dr P
Anitha of the Centre for Advanced Studies in Poultry Science,
Faculty of Veterinary & Animal Sciences of Kerala
Agricultural University. The thesis has been made solely by
me and there has been an attempt to provide in this work,
references to similar studies done elsewhere.
 12

INTRODUCTION
 13

1. INTRODUCTION

Poultry provides employment to about 1.5 million

people and contributes about Rs. 350 Billion to
the National GDP. Though poultry development in
the country has taken a quantum leap in the last
three decades, the growth has been mainly
restricted to commercial poultry. Rural backyard
poultry, contributing nearly 30% to the national
egg production, is the most neglected one. This
is in spite of the fact that their poultry eggs
and meat fetch a much higher price than that from
commercial poultry. For the poorest of the poor
and the landless, the major issues are food
security and risk spreading through subsidiary
income. Backyard poultry requiring hardly any
infrastructure set-up is a potent tool for
upliftment of the poorest of the poor. Besides
income generation, rural backyard poultry can
improve food self-sufficiency. Small-
scale poultry production has the potential to
stimulate economic growth of resource poor
households. Poultry rearing can enhance household
food security and contribute to poverty reduction
through provision of supplementary food, income
and employment.

Poultry production in Kerala remains largely as a

backyard venture with virtually no modern units.
These backyard birds have low to medium
productivity. There is, however, a market demand
of 5063 million eggs in the State against the
availability of a meager 1197 million eggs. The
State food security project aims to enhance Egg
 14

production in the State from the base level of

1196 (Million Nos.) to 2395 (Million Nos.). Its
implementation requires coordination and
integration of government departments, local
governments, and several other institutions.
Increasing the productivity of small-scale
farmers will improve the availability and
nutritional content of food, and enhance food
security generally among the poor. There are a
number of community groups and individuals
engaged poultry production projects. This
research will focus on finding out how the
projects are functioning, their socio economic
status, profitability, constraints and strategies
that can be employed to improve their success.

The per capita availability of egg in Kerala is

very low at 72 eggs/ year and that of poultry
meat is at 0.9 kg/year against the world average
of 147 eggs and 11 kg poultry meat /year, which
is the level recommended by the National
Institute of Nutrition. The Census figures
indicate that the chicken and duck population in
Kerala reduced to half over a period from 1996 to
2003. However, there has been a significant
improvement in the population of other species of
poultry especially quail and turkeys. An overall
47% reduction in the poultry population was
observed during the period.

One of the biggest problems is the non-

availability of land. Kerala is already placed in
India among the most thickly populated States.
The agricultural land is also on the decline,
which translates to a higher cost of feed
 15

ingredients. There are no feed companies in

Kerala which make specific poultry feeds.
Therefore, many a times, feed has to be procured
from other States. The availability of quality
chicks is another problem in Kerala. Moreover,
the cost of labour compared to neighbouring
States is another constraint. For poultry
farmers, loan/credit facilities are far from
satisfactory. Furthermore, small poultry units
lack insurance coverage. Over and above,
Government has imposed a 12.5% Value Added Tax.
Low production potential in the stocks maintained
by the backyard farmers and small holders is yet
another problem. However, the up gradation has to
be gradual as the birds need to retain their
hardiness, required for their scavenging nature
and survivability in harsh rural conditions.
Proper feeding and other managemental aspects
will also help improve the productivity of the
birds.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY DEPARTMENT, GOVERNMENT OF KERALA

The Department being the nodal agency for poultry

activity provides a nucleus for the
implementation of schemes like SGSY (Ministry of
Rural Development) as per their requirement. This
Department has taken up in association with
Indian Council of Agricultural Research a
targeted program for up-gradation of low-input
technology birds Poultry Development activities
in the State aim at increasing the production of
egg, production and distribution of chicks and
good quality poultry meat, impart training on
Scientific Poultry Rearing and Management,
 16

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.

Table 1 Year-wise Estimate of Egg production

Sl. No. Year India % change over Kerala %

contribution
previous year
of Kerala
1 2001-02 38729 5.72 2002 5.2
2 2002-03 39823 2.82 1347 3.4
3 2003-04 40403 1.46 1277 3.2
4 2004-05 45201 1.87 1197 2.9
5 2005-06 46166 2.13 1196 2.6
6 2006-07 50663 9.74 1199 2.4

Source: Economic Survey and Department of Animal Husbandry

In a country like India where the average

level of nutrition is very low, chicken and eggs,
which are not expensive, can contribute
considerably towards improving diet as a source
of animal protein. As per estimates available,
the per capita availability of egg is very low at
41 eggs /year and poultry meat is 0.9 kg/year
against the world average of 147 eggs and 11 kg
poultry meat /year. Government of India has set a
target for achieving production of over 52
billion eggs by 2011-12, at a growth rate of 4.3
per cent.
 17

Poultry farming for egg production relaying

on purchased feed are uneconomic in Kerala.
Poultry rearing on commercial lines is therefore
largely confined to broiler production. The egg
production which reached 2054 million in 1999-
2000 is continuously showing declining trend and
in 2005-06 it reached a lower level of 1196
million recording a drastic fall of 41.75per
cent. During 2006-07 the situation is changing
and a 0.25% increase over the previous year is
recorded and egg production increased to 1199
million Nos. The per capita availability of egg
based on production during 2003-04 is only 39/
year and from 2004--05 to 2006-07, it further
declined to 36/year. The per capita consumption
of egg during 2006-07 is 66/year. The gap is
filled by importing eggs from neighbouring State.
An alarming factor to be noted in this regard is
that over the last three years the domestic
production of egg is declining to a lower level
than that of 1984 - 85. The decline in poultry
population and hike in cost of feed were the
major reason for the decline in production.
During 2006-07, 1021 million numbers of eggs is
imported to the State. The export during the year
is 4.3 million numbers

Backyard poultry system has good potential in the

state. Around 8-10 lakh chicks are being
introduced every year in the state. Apart from
Animal Husbandry department and Kerala
Agricultural University, KSPDC, a few NGOs and
private farms are also involved. But the system
is yet to develop to the required extent. The
 18

functioning of the department farms is to be

strengthened to foster the backyard poultry
system. On the contrary, in India as a whole it
was transferred into a vibrant scientifically
organised industry.

BROILER PRODUCTION

Poultry production has undergone rapid changes

during the past decades due to the introduction
of modern intensive production methods, new
breeds and improved preventive disease control
and bio-security measures. Nearly 10-15 Private
hatcheries, working as satellite hatcheries
contribute to the local production of chicks and
chicken meat. Approximately 40000-50000 direct
employment is generated through broiler
production. Apart from this, around 30000-40000
MT of chicken meat, which includes broilers,
layer chicks, broiler and layer parent, culls
etc. is being imported from neighbouring states.

PEOPLES PLAN CAMPAIGN

The State of Kerala flagged off the people’s plan

campaign in 1997. Poultry projects are being
implements right from the start of the campaign.
The greatest challenge to any Government is
alleviation of poverty in the rural areas of the
State. Kerala State Planning Board, initiated a
'Peoples' Campaign' in order to improve the
Panchayaths and municipal bodies to draw up the
Plan Schemes within their respective areas of
responsibility. Following are the objectives of
the campaign
 19

• To evolve economic planning with peoples'

participation and mobilization of local
resources in the development process by
involving stake holders.
• To effect substantial relaxation of
beauracratic control and thus the empowerment
of people. One of the important features of
people's planning is that the major thrust of
the Panchayaths has been focused on
productive sectors mainly agriculture and
other activities followed by social sectors
and infrastructures.

THRISSUR DISTRICT PROFILE

Thrissur is the cultural capital of Kerala State.
Profile of the District is depicted in Table 2
below. The district lies between 100 101 X 100 461
latitude and 760 541 longitude in the central part
of Kerala and is surrounded by (a) Arabian Sea on
the West (b) Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu
and Palakkad district of Kerala in the east (c)
Malappuram and Palakkad district in the north and
(d) Ernakulam and Idukki district in the South.
It has an area of 3032 Sq km. The land holding
is predominantly marginal.

The district has moderate infrastructural

facilities. It has a busy railway station and is
well connected to other districts and states.
Two national high ways NH 47 and NH 17 passes
through the district. The economic development
of the district in the recent past has been more
conspicuous in the tertiary sector. The flooding
NRI remittance has helped development of new town
 20

ships and growth centres at different parts of

the district.

The district has a well-developed bank

network Canara Bank, the lead bank of the
district has been doing exceedingly well as the
leader. Among the public sector banks SBT, SBI
and Canara bank have a major presence. Thrissur
is an industrially and commercially developed
district. The district has basic infrastructure
facilities and as per the latest census the
district has a population of 29.74 lakhs of
which, 71.8 percent live in rural areas, the
district has 92.56% literacy rate and a high
percentage of skilled persons.
Table 2 Thrissur Districts’ Profile

District Came Into Existence 1 st JULY 1949

District Head Quarters Thrissur
Geographical Area 3032 Sq.km
Parliamentary Constituencies 3
Assembly Constituencies 14
Taluks 5
Villages 254
Corporation 1
Municipalities 6
District Panchayath 1
Block Panchayath 17
Grama Panchayaths 92

Table -2
 21

REVIEW OF
LITERATURE
 22

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Studies in Bangladesh by Rahman and Hossain,

(1995) showed that an intervention with poultry
production created a relatively small decline in
the overall poverty with the proportion of
extreme poor declining from 31 to 23% and the
moderate poor stagnating around 29%.

`Todd, (1999) and Dolberg, (2001) opined

that poultry activity is to be considered as a
learning process for the beneficiaries, but it
has to be realised that one activity alone is not
sufficient to lift a family out of poverty. The
opportunities called as the enabling environment
must be available for the beneficiaries to
establish a small poultry enterprise, to minimize
the risks and to take up other income generating
activities.

Jensen (2000) observed that about 70 % of

the rural landless women are directly or
indirectly involved in poultry rearing
activities. He found that homestead poultry
rearing is economically viable. The poultry
sector could be one of the most productive
sectors if these women are properly trained,
supported with credit and other necessary inputs
and made to operate under supervision of
extension workers. Poultry rearing is suitable
for widespread implementation as it is of low
cost, required little skills, is highly
productive and can be incorporated into the
 23

households work. Poultry is the only activity in

which a large number of landless women can
participate. In the small-scale poultry units,
which support the landless, production per bird
may be low, but distribution of benefits will be
more equal and have great human development
impact. Poultry rearing is a culturally
acceptable, technically and economically viable.
Moreover, the ownership of poultry is entirely in
the hands of women.

Mack et al (2000) opined that in order to

increase egg and poultry meat production there is
a need for increased investment guided by
policies and institutions that promote equitable,
sustainable, and environmentally friendly long-
term outcomes. As Backyard poultry make an
important contribution to poverty mitigation, it
should be considered as any strategy to improve
rural livelihoods. Right policies and investment,
well designed and participative development
programmes can overcome the constraints faced by
the smallholder poultry producers. These
intensive production methods place high demands
on proper health, hygiene and management and
require only a small, but very skilled labour
force. This type of production has also been
adopted in developing countries but the scope of
adoption has been limited due to the high inputs
and skills required. The progress in industrial
poultry production methods has however had little
effect on subsistence poultry production methods
in rural and peri-urban areas, where inputs into
disease control remain minimal. Although this is
 24

true in general, there are some geographical hot

spots where industrial poultry production and
small holder village poultry systems have both
massively grown in close geographical proximity,
notably in Thailand, Indonesia, and China.

Del Ninno et al., (2001) described in their

paper that rural poultry production will not
protect poor people in Bangladesh against the
natural disasters that hit the country from time
to time, but it can help them build up their
asset base.

Jensen and Dolberg (2002)advocated for using

poultry as a tool in poverty alleviation. An
enabling environment must be established by
providing access to feed, vaccine, vaccinations
services, micro-finance, marketing and other
inputs and services. A village group, composed of
members of socially equal status, is an excellent
entity to disseminate improved technology, a
cost-effective entity to disseminate extension
messages, and a secure entity for disbursement of
loans.

Karlan, (2002) opined that an enabling

environment would give all the villagers access
to poultry farm input supplies and services; pave
the way for disbursement of micro-credits in a
cost-effective way; facilitate easier formation
of associations through formalised village
livestock groups; help people acquire the skills
that are required for a business set-up ., form
 25

the basis for a marketing organization for farm

products and can be used by other NGOs, having
the same target groups, to implement other
development activities.

Dolberg (2003) reviewed poultry as a tool in

poverty alleviation focusing on experiences from
Bangladesh but survey and project work that has
been undertaken in India. Animal husbandry and
agricultural departments’ extension programmes
are hardly known or used by most poor people for
whom the poultry work is relevant. The work in
Bangladesh is closely linked to the presence of
NGOs and their capacity to reach out to poor
people. Micro-credit has been an important
component in the interventions that the NGOs
undertake and it is difficult to distinguish
between the benefits from micro-credit and the
benefits from poultry production in Bangladesh.
In India, there are many NGOs that are much
closer to people than the government extension
services, but few of them have any poultry
expertise. in some States, the commercial sector
has a strong presence. He stresses that project
‘models’ need to be adapted to the conditions
prevailing in different countries.

Gondwe et al (2003) found that rural poultry

is raised and utilized by about 80 percent of the
human population, primarily situated in rural
areas and occupied by subsistence agriculture.
Different poultry species are raised, mostly
 26

indigenous to the area, except chickens, where

traces of Black Australorp breed can be
identified The paper describes a community-based
project that aims to contribute to food self-
sufficiency among smallholder farmers through
promotion and improvement of poultry species in
an integrated system without changing the
cultural and farming system Distribution of
flocks by age groups was in favour of old birds
(over 52 weeks) in chickens and ducks and growers
(20-30 weeks) in pigeons. This showed that
farmers keep their birds for a long time. The
proportion of chicks and ducklings less than ten
weeks old was small. This suggests high mortality
rates caused by diseases and predators. This age
group is vulnerable and needs care. In pigeons
the number of squabs is low since this is the
group that is mostly consumed. Growers, mature
and old pigeons are used for breeding. Inbreeding
within flocks is probably occurring because of
the lack of a cockerel-exchange system and
record-keeping. The major constraints to poultry
production were outbreaks of Newcastle disease
among chickens in the months of September to
December every year; predators that fed on
pigeons, chickens and ducks; and poor housing and
prolonged weaning periods for chickens and ducks.
There is also haphazard sharing of breed stock
among relatives, friends and others, within the
village rather than between villages. Poultry in
rural areas could play a role to contribute to
the nutritional status of the people in these
areas.
 27

Bujarbaruah and Gupta (2005) reported that a

flock size ranging from 25-250 birds are reared
across the country under the village poultry
system. They have low production potential with
only 40-80 eggs per year but are less susceptible
to most of the common diseases requiring less
veterinary care. In order to meet the deficiency
gap in poultry meat and egg sectors, adequate and
sustained efforts will have to be made to improve
the production efficiency of the rural poultry
which has been responsible to produce 40% of meat
and 44% of egg requirement in the country.
Average productivity from around 75% of the
indigenous poultry population is 60-70 eggs per
year per bird. The distribution of desi birds per
square km is 71 with an average holding of 2.59
indigenous birds per family i.e. a production of
2.59 X 65 eggs = 168 per family per year. With an
average family size of 5.5 in the region and
projected requirement of 90 eggs per person per
annum (50% of WHO recommendation), the
requirement per family is 5.5 x 90= 495 i.e. a
deficiency of 327 eggs per family. For the
development of the region through family poultry,
the need therefore is to increase the production
potential of the indigenous birds through
improvement measures like Sound and systematic
breeding programs with improved breeds developed
for backyard purpose. Slow but steady replacement
of the existing indigenous birds with lower
production potential with improved breeds like
Vanaraja / Giriraja was recommended.
 28

Mapiye and Sibanda (2005), in a study

carried out in Zimbabwe revealed that on an
average, each household had a flock size of 30 ±
6 chickens. Chickens that received full feed
supplementation had highest flock sizes, hen and
chick numbers. About 40.5 % of deaths recorded
were due to predation, 30.2% due to disease, 8.8%
due to accidents, 8.6% due to parasites and 12.9%
due to unknown causes. Although 88% of the
households were male-headed, women owned 95% of
the chickens. Female-headed households had higher
chicken flock sizes and lower mortalities than
male-headed households. Women dominated in
feeding (43.5% of the households), watering
(51.2%) and cleaning (37.2%). Men mainly
dominated in shelter construction (60%). Housing,
feeding and health systems were identified as
opportunities, and predation, diseases and chick
mortality as constraints to the expansion of
village chicken production. Adequate disease
control, reduction of chick losses, improvement
of husbandry practices and implementation of
gender sensitive projects were recommended.

Rai et al (2005) studied the poultry

production in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and
found that majority of eggs in the market come
from hens kept in semi-intensive or backyard
systems in rural areas. Poultry keeping has a
pivotal role in the economy of rural farmers. Of
late there has been an increasing awareness among
the farmers to adopt diversified agriculture,
including livestock and poultry. Poultry flock
size in the villages varies from 10-50. Women,
 29

assisted in some cases by children, play key role

in this sector, and they are main owners and
managers of family poultry production. The birds
are reared either under free-range system or
backyard or semi intensive system. The owner
sometimes provides supplemental feed like rice,
wheat and paddy. The amount of food provided to
the birds depends on the financial status of the
farmers and egg laying capacity of the birds.

Constraints analysis of backyard poultry in

Erode, a district of TamilNadu done by Baskaran
et al(2005), it was observed that the farmers
predominantly had medium level (31-38) of
constraints, while inferior number of respondents
had low (< 30) and high (> 39) level. The results
of correlation analysis revealed that out of 11
socio-economic characteristics, education,
experience in backyard poultry farming,
possession of backyard poultry birds and contact
with extension agency had significant negative
relationship with the constraints faced by
backyard poultry farmers. Further, the regression
analysis revealed that all the 11 socio-economic
characteristics put together contributed to the
extent of 81.20 per cent towards constraints
level which was found to be highly significant (P
< 0.01) and the characteristics namely,
occupation, experience in backyard poultry
farming, possession of backyard poultry birds and
contact with extension agency had significant
negative influence on constraints level among the
respondents
 30

Krishna Rao (2005) recorded that poultry are

inseparable from mankind and in the rural
scenario they do not need any land, are easy to
manage, regularly lay eggs, disease resistant and
well adapted to the harsh environment. With
better nutrition, their egg production can be
stepped up substantially. Only a good Night
Shelter need to be provided to them. With all
these attributes poultry farming in the rural
environment can be a powerful tool for poverty
alleviation and social justice. To the rural poor
this can be Rainless Harvest with egg production
and stock multiplication proceeding unhampered
irrespective of rain or drought. It is women that
are largely involved in poultry farming. In every
village market and fairs poultry and eggs are
major commodities.

Huq and Mallik (1998) found that rural women

in Bangladesh use poultry as a tool in poverty
alleviation and concluded that poultry
development has potential for capturing the
inequitable distribution of income and employment
in rural areas. Women could operate and manage
broiler, layer and duck farms efficiently with a
high return on the investment. Poultry production
on a smaller scale like in the are useful to
improve the native backyard poultry under
scavenging and semi-intensive systems, where
women traditionally play the most important role.
Lack of quality feed supply, Lack of vaccines
especially RD, Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD)
and Marek’s disease, Low price of dressed
 31

broilers and eggs were pointed out as the

constraints faced by them.

Singh and Jilani (2006) conducted a study in

Garhwal, Himalayas with sample size of 100
backyard poultry farmers and found that most
farmers belonged to old age category, having
medium family size, low annual income and high
social participation. Among the constraints
perceived non- availability of day old
chicks/lack of suitable germplasm, Infrastructure
facility, high price rate of day old chick, lack
of technical know-how, non-availability of
vaccine and medicines, Government policy and
credit facility of farmers were ranked as most
important. The total improvement of this sector
needs proper planning, creation of adequate
infrastructure and monetary support. To make
backyard poultry rearing a profitable venture the
farmers should be adequately trained in
scientific poultry rearing.
Mandal et al (2006) studied the Backyard
poultry farming in Bareilly district of Uttar
Pradesh, India and found that the respondents
were predominantly young, had low level of
education, belonged to Muslim religion and were
from the medium sized nuclear family.
Agricultural labour was the major occupation;
they had marginal land and medium livestock
holding with more than 6 years of poultry farming
experience. The average flock size was 5 birds
and they reared birds in free-range/backyard
system with little supplementary feeding. The
production level was very low. Natural hatching
 32

was the main source of chicks. No systematic care

was taken with regard to the diseases and
vaccination of the birds was also not carried out
in any of the villages surveyed. Direct marketing
was prevalent in the area although middlemen
existed. The major constraints identified were
high incidence of poultry diseases, lack of
suitable germ-plasm and attack by predators.
Choprakarn and Wongpichet(2007) reviewed the
information on indigenous chickens in Thailand,
describing the production systems, management,
conservation and utilization. Their production
systems have been sustainable and about 6 million
households, or 50 percent of Thais, keep poultry
at home. Each family produces 30–50 birds of
marketable size annually, which represents 100–
120 million birds for the country as a whole.
These chickens kept as one cockerel and three to
five hens per household. Flock size varies
through the year, as it depends on the hatching
rate, the availability of natural feed, the
effects of endemic diseases, and the amount of
time that the farmers have available to take care
of their birds. Periods of seasonal change are
critical times of high mortality; about 30–70% of
birds in a flock die annually. About 50–70 % are
raised for home consumption; the rest are for
sale to provide cash income. Few are used for
cultural and religious activities.
 33

RATIONALE OF THE

STUDY
 34

3. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

In spite of the progress in agriculture,

India still faces a big challenge in job creation
and maintenance of food security and women’s role
in farming is still inadequately acknowledged.
With increasing urbanisation and sky-rocketing of
land prices everywhere due to population
explosion and allied factors back-yard poultry
units have vanished to a great extent from the
middle-class and lower middle-class and lower
middle-class people leaving poultry largely in
the hands of rural poor in single digit numbers
only who can only maintain these birds through a
system of foraging and scavenging. To these
deprived sections of our society Poultry
constitute instruments of social justice and
measures for poverty alleviation.

It is estimated that 78% of India’s

economically active women are involved in
agriculture. Across the poor farming communities,
care of animals is the women’s domain, but not in
the rich families. Rural poultry sector
contributes nearly 30% of the national egg
production in India and is the most neglected
one. The rural households normally maintain the
desi birds under scavenging or semi-scavenging
conditions. During the past three decades, the
popularity of scavenging chicken has reduced
drastically due to low production of the native
chicken used in this system.
 35

Against this background of poultry ownership

there are only two major groups of Poultry
keepers, the economically advanced commercial
farmers and the economically poor rural farmers,
labourers etc., who supplement their meager
income by raising a few desi chickens. It may
therefore be appropriate to term the poultry
raised by the urban elite as Urban Poultry and
the poultry raised by the rural poor the bulk of
which belong to the desi group as Rural Poultry.

Government of Kerala has implemented several

poultry projects in the past and especially after
the advent of the peoples plan campaign. It is
expected that such projects will continue to be
implemented in the future. There is the need to
evaluate the success of these projects and to
suggest measures to improve them. In this context
a study has been undertaken to critically examine
the after effects of poultry distribution
projects in two important Panchayaths in Thrissur
District.

Along with this, an evaluation of integrated

poultry units (broilers) prevalent in many parts
of Thrissur will also be done to get an idea
about their performance and feasibility. This
study will provide information on the
profitability of these projects will act as a
stimulus to attract more entrepreneurs to this
field.

Opinion of experts in this field will be

collected to enlist the main problems faced by
 36

poultry farmers and also the pitfalls in the

programmes taken up previously.

The findings of the study will help the

local level planners to critically evaluate the
projects implemented in past and restructure the
future poultry projects as needed. This will
result in better profitability and streamlining
of poultry production in the District. The
outcome of the study will be improved food
security, more sustainable use of natural
resources and increased income for the rural
poor.
 37

RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
 38

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Keeping in mind the limitations of the various

ongoing schemes and taking into account the need
to have a deeper insight into the requirements of
the rural poultry sector with focus aimed at the
poorest of the poor the study was completed in
two important Panchayaths of Thrissur District.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To analyse the situation of poultry rearing in

the two Panchayaths

2. To evaluate the poultry projects implemented

in the two Panchayaths during the past 5

years.

3. To determine the socio-economic development

registered if any consequent to these

projects.

4. To investigate the profitability of backyard

and small scale poultry projects.

5. To determine the constraints faced by the

poultry farmers.

6. To develop strategies to improve the success

of poultry projects.

METHODOLOGY
 39

Structured interview schedule was used to conduct

the situational analysis of the two Panchayaths.

Thirty households in the two Panchayaths were

covered under the study. The households were

selected at random. The variables as perceived by

the rural poultry owners were recorded in the

schedule prepared for the purpose of the study.

The rank position of the constraints was decided

on the basis of frequency distribution against

each constraint.

Data available with the Veterinary, Local self

governments and Rural Development Departments

were collected and evaluated. Ten experts in the

field and ten small scale poultry production unit

owners were identified and information was

gathered from them. A total of 30 respondents

were selected from the two Panchayaths by

purposive sampling technique. Data collected

through personal interview was categorized and

tabulated. The data was then subjected to

standard statistical analysis by finding the

mean. Correlation and multiple-linear regression

analysis by taking the total constraints score as

the dependant variable and the chosen socio-

economic characteristics of backyard poultry

farmers as independent variable.

 40

Variables studied with respect to rural

poultry farmers

(a)Gender
(b)Family size
(c) Occupation
(d)Experience
(e)Flock Size
(f)Management Practices
(g)Feeding system
(h)Flock Health
(i)Diseases
(j)Production particulars
(k) Preferences of beneficiaries
(l)Self help groups
(m)Cost of production

Descriptive research was used in the study of

integrated poultry units so as to obtain a

complete and accurate description of the schemes

and the problems there in. Items of observation

would include

• Description of the project

• Cost of production

• Problems faced

• Profitability

Socio economic development in terms of

improvement in the following variables was also

evaluated.

• Increase in income

• Improvement in the skills

• Trainings received
 41

• Job satisfaction

• Improvement in the nutritional status of the

households
 42

RESULTS &
DISCUSSION
 43

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

The results are expressed as answers to six major

objectives and depicted below followed by a brief
discussion of the same.

5.1. Situation of poultry rearing in the two

Panchayaths
5.1.1 General overview
Most of the households rear village chickens
under scavenging system mainly as a source of
income (39%) and food (36%). It could be seen
that women own and mange most of the flocks
(54%). But chicken meat is only consumed when
important guests visit the family. Most farmers
(59.5%) prefer chicken with brown plumage color
mainly because it sells faster at the market.

5.1. 2 Variables observed are depicted in the

Table 3 below
Variables Category No. of Percentage
respondents
Gender Male 11 36.67
Female 19 63.33
Family size <4 14 46.66
5-7 11 36.67
>7 5 16.67
Major Others 29 96.67
Poultry Rearing 1 3.33
Occupation
Experience in <1 3 1.00
years
2-5 11 36.67
>5 16 53.33
Flock Size <5 5 16.67
6-10 15 50.00
>10 10 33.33
Table. 3 Observed frequencies and percentages of
variables
 44

5.1.2.a Gender
It could be seen that a good majority of the
respondents (63.33%) were females where as only
36.67% were males. The person in charge of the
poultry unit in these houses was identified as
the respondent in all of the cases.

5.1.2.b Family size

The data revealed that 46.67% of the respondents
had a nuclear family with a family size less than
four, whereas 36.67 % had a family size between
five and seven. A 16.67 % lived as a joint family
with family size above 7. The graph representing
family size of the respondents is given as Fig 1
.

Family size of the respondents

50 46.67

40 36.67

30
Series1
%

20 16.67

10

0
<4 5-7 >7
Number of individuals

Fig 1 Family size of the respondents

5.1.2.c Occupation
A vast majority (96.67 %)of the respondents
considered poultry rearing as a subsidiary
occupation. Though most of the respondents
belonged to the farming community, with
 45

agriculture as their major means of livelihood,

only one farmer did not have any other means of
livelihood.

5.1.2. d Experience
The study revealed that 10.00 % of the
respondents were having less than 1 year
experience in poultry farming. A 36.67 % of the
respondents had 2-5 years experience, whereas a
majority (53.33%) had more than 5 years
experience.

Years of Experience in Poultry Farming

10.00

53.33
<1 2-5 >5
36.67

Fig 2 Experience of the respondents in poultry

rearing

5.1.2. e Flock Size

Average flock per household was eight birds with
a sex ratio of four hens for one cock in around
60% of the households evaluated. Scavenging space
is the criteria behind the decision of flock
size. About 16.67 % of the households reared less
than 5 birds, 50.00 % reared less than 10 birds
and 33.33% reared more than 10 birds. Most of
 46

the families (63.33 %) did not hatch eggs using a

broody hen. Chicks were brought at day old stage
and above in 36.67% of the households. Pullets
and male birds were also purchased as growers
below 2 months of age. At least one broody hen
was always kept to maintain the flock. Rarely did
they hatch eggs regularly. Some (19 %) households
did not have a cock. About 65% of the families
opined that they purchased chicks only from
reliable sources or through the local veterinary
hospital/ dispensaries.
5.1.2. f Management Practices
Most of the farmers housed the birds in their
backyard. A temporary shelter was constructed in
all the households to provide shelter to the
birds. Around 70 % of the households made
shelters with wooden planks. None of the
households were following intensive system of
management. All the respondents were using semi-
intensive system of housing. Around 42% of the
respondents were aware of homestead cages. No
bedding material is provided in the poultry
houses. Some have the habit of using cane baskets
to protect and cover the birds. Few farmers have
built pakka poultry houses but are mostly with
inadequate spacing. Chicks when hatched were not
given any artificial warmth. They are left with
the mother hen under a bamboo basket at night.
Most of the farmers let out chicks only after at
least 10 days of age. In most of the houses there
were not more than two broody hens. The birds are
let out from as early as 7 am in the morning, and
they are permitted to roam around till 6 pm
 47

generally. Owners were not aware of the floor

space requirements.

5.1.2. g Feeding Practices

Seventy-three percent of the farmers give
supplementary feed to chicken. There is no
regular time for feeding of poultry though they
are fed daily in most of the households. There is
no proper idea about the nutritional requirements
of poultry. When 63% opined that birds should be
fed less than 25 g of feed every day, 30% opined
that it should be between 25 and 50 g. About 7 %
were of the view that this should be around 100g.
Few farmers (23.33 %) give shell grit to improve
the shell quality of eggs produced. The birds in
backyard survive well on kitchen waste, coconut
grating, insects, pests, wild seeds, grains,
grasses and other vegetations. The supplemented
feed consist of cooked rice, kitchen wastes,
vegetables, rice bran, dried fish, commercial
feeds, flour and milling wastes lacking in
vitamins and proteins. More than 75% of the
farmers were supplementing carbohydrates alone.
There is no regular provision of protein sources
to these chickens.
The total quantitative supplementation varies
from 2.00 to 3.30 kg per week given mainly during
harvest time. On an average this expenditure
comes to 20 to 33 rupees per week. Chickens are
given water in all the households mainly by
women. Water is also provided in basins inside
the poultry shelters. These containers are seldom
removed for cleaning and sanitation. Water is
simply refilled when the level goes down. Few
 48

household (13.33%) had the practice of giving

feed supplements (mineral mixtures, B-complex
vitamins etc). No regular deworming was in
practice and usually the medicines were got from
the local veterinary dispensary. Farmers also had
the habit of purchasing medicines from the local
medical shop without prescriptions.

5.1.2. h Flock Health

The mortality rate is often more than 50% rising
to 100% in most of the households. Around 72% of
the house hold reported disease incidences and
mortality rates. Thirty percent of the farmers
had noted a mortality of 100% over the past five
years. Ninety-eight percent of the farmers treat
sick chicken with diverse types of drugs
including traditional medications. About 12.7 %
were reported to use traditional methods, 66.9%
used modern drugs including anti-biotics, and
68.9% vaccinated chicks while 14.5% used
pesticides to control external parasites.

5.1.2.h.1 Diseases

The most worrying disease symptoms are

respiratory distress, white, greenish diarrhea,
blood in droppings, closed eyelids, mucus
exudates from the nostrils and mouth and gaping.
Pox is a common incidence in almost all of the
households. Few farmers reported that the cross
bred birds distributed had poor immunity and
seldom lived beyond 2 years. Some farmers also
reported that some poultry developed dermatitis
 49

problems and bumble foot, which were difficult to

be cured. Farmers of the opinion that coloured
birds have better livability. The death rates
were found to be higher among chicks immediately
after purchase, followed by birds above two years
of age. The causes of mortality in chicks were
predators (42.6 %), disease (31.3%), and
accidents (26.1%).

From the symptoms described by farmers, it is

probable that Newcastle disease (ND), Infectious
Bronchitis (IB), Fowl Pox, Chronic Respiratory
distress, Coccidiosis, Fowl Typhoid and Pullorum
Disease may be prevalent in the backyard poultry.
Most (93.33%) of the households bury dead birds
while the rest throw dead birds into pits, which
are eventually picked up by scavengers.

5. 1.2.h.2 Vaccinations.

All of the households had vaccinated their birds

during the - RD vaccination programme under
Assistance to States for Control of Animal
Diseases of the Panchayath. Some farmers utilized
the vaccines supplied by the Veterinary
dispensaries during the rest of the periods.
There is no practice of any vaccination other
than against Ranikhet Disease.
 50

5.1.2.h.3 Avian Influenza awareness

Farmers are aware of the zoonotics importance of

the disease and are concerned about the control
measures. None of the households were found to
adopt any of the bio-security measures.

5.1.2.h.4 Constraints to managing chicks

Main constraints to chicks in the backyard were
found to be the lack of feed, disease outbreaks,
predators and poor management in this order of
importance.

5.1.2.i Flock Production Characteristics

Farmers opined that cross bred hens start laying
at an age varying from 160 to 175 days. In some
cases the egg production was nil. Hens lay an
average of 15 eggs per clutch with an annual
production varying from less than 100 to 140 per
year. It could be noted that the birds are seldom
kept for production beyond a period of two years.
Households consume about 75 % of the eggs laid.
Selling of eggs is not common among the
households, though they sell eggs in the
neighbourhood.
Usually, the birds after laying, stay in and
around the house of the owner in search of feed
and come back at dusk or by the call of the
owner.

5.1.2. j Preferences of beneficiaries

There is a better preference for brown shelled

eggs. The average price obtained for each egg
 51

during local sales varies from 3 to 4 rupees.

Farmers are of the opinion that coloured birds
fetch better price when sold. The price may vary
from Rs 120 to 150 per kg live weight. Some
birds did not produce any eggs and were sold for
meat at around 8 months of age when they attain
around 2 kg body weight. All the poultry owners
reported that, the price of eggs and birds varied
according to season and religious festivals

5.1.2. k Self help groups

Among the respondents, 70% were members of

kudumbasree. Farmers believe that membership in
Kudumbasree has helped them to be selected as
beneficiaries of various plan schemes, increase
their awareness about the plan, participate in
various training programmes etc.

5.1.2.l Cost of production

The farmers kept no records of the expenditure
incurred in the rearing of backyard flock. So the
calculation of cost of production could not be
done accurately.

5.1.3 Discussion of the findings

The findings reveal that poultry is kept as

a means of income and food by majority of the
households. This is in agreement with the
findings of Gondwe et al (2003). The results of
the present study indicated that a majority of
the respondents were females. This is an asset
 52

over which the poor women actually have control.

This activity can therefore play an important
role in poverty alleviation and also s may
contribute to an improvement in the income of the
household. Jensen (2000) also reported similar
findings.

The fact that poultry meat is consumed only

during special occasions indicated that their
standards of living are not especially good. A
good majority of the households did not have a
big family and this is again in support of the
general trend in Kerala. Respondents considered
poultry as only a subsidiary income source. The
fact that a vast majority of the farmers had more
than 5 years experience in poultry rearing
indicates that this system is prevalent in Kerala
for many years and is generally accepted as a
viable one. The proportion of new households is a
positive sign as this indicates many new families
coming into this sector in the recent days.

The average flock size of 8 and a male

female ratio of 1:4 were reported. This is in
tune with the ratio recommended by the Kerala
Agricultural University for Backyard rearing.
Scavenging space is the criteria behind the
decision of flock size. It is a known fact that
the non-availability of land is a major
constraint to commercial poultry production in
Kerala. The same is again a restricting factor in
rural poultry rearing indicating the need for
innovative techniques of poultry rearing which
also takes into consideration the scarcity of
land. The fewer number of families holding a
 53

broody hen is indicative of the increasing

popularity of artificial incubation and the
realization of production losses owing to
broodiness.

Majority of the households raised cocks and

this indicated that cocks are of demand among the
farmers. These cocks are used for religious
purposes and sold at a comparatively higher price
than that of hens. There is also another positive
finding that majority of the farmers did not buy
chicks from unknown / road side vendors. It
indicates the increase in awareness about the
quality and acceptance of the chicks supplied
through government agencies among the farmers.
This may be due to the fact that deaths reported
within a period of one month among chicks
distributed through the Panchayath veterinary
dispensaries / hospitals are replaced.

Most of the families (63.33 %) did not hatch

eggs using a broody hen and this indicates the
need for hatcheries at the District level to
hatch chicks as per the need of common farmers.
Chicks were brought at day old stage and above in
36.67% of the households. Pullets and male birds
were also purchased as growers below 2 months of
age this indicates that there is scope for chick
hatcheries and egger nurseries in the district.

Around 70 % of the households made shelters

with wooden planks which is the most economical
system of housing possible in our conditions. All
the respondents were using semi-intensive system
of housing. Higher level of awareness about
 54

homestead cages indicated that they can be

propagated among the needy farmers. The fact that
the farmers were not aware of the floor space
requirements has led to inadequate space being
provided. Thus it is indicated that this problem
need to be focused in future. There is the need
to make farmers aware of the drawback of
inadequate space in poultry houses. The facts
that Chicks were hatched without any artificial
warmth and that they are let out from 10 days of
age is owing to the higher atmospheric
temperature in Kerala. The birds are let out from
as early as 7 am in the morning, and they are
permitted to roam around till 6 pm generally. So
on an average a bird gets 8- 13 hours for
scavenging.

The fact that 73% of the farmers give

supplementary feed indicated the high level of
awareness on the importance of concentrate
feeding for better productive performance in
rural poultry. There is no proper idea about the
nutritional requirements of poultry. This is
evident from the fact that farmers give a
quantity of feed which may be less than 25 g per
every day or as high as 100g. Few farmers (23.33
%) give shell grit and this is essential to
improve shell quality. Majority of the feed fed
being carbohydrates and household wastes, lacking
in vitamins and proteins, this alone is
insufficient for the bird to perform to its full
potential. The total quantitative supplementation
varies from 2.00 to 3.30 kg per week given mainly
during harvest time.
 55

Chickens are given water inside the poultry

shelters, but these containers are seldom removed
for cleaning and sanitation. This practice is to
be instilled in their minds as contaminated water
will be a good source for spread of diseases. Few
household (13.33%) had the practice of giving
feed supplements, which though would increase the
cost of production, are certainly found to be
beneficial to the health of the birds. There is
the need to stipulate regular deworming
programmes through the local veterinary
dispensaries. They should be instructed to use
broad spectrum dewormers in the correct dosage.
Farmers’ habit of purchasing medicines from the
local medical shop without prescriptions needs to
be curtailed as indiscriminate use of drugs would
lead to the development of resistance.

The mortality rate is often more than 50%

after supply probably due to the stress of
transportation and heat. Thirty per cent of the
farmers had noted a mortality of 100% over the
past five years with some outbreaks. So the
disease diagnosis and surveillance system has to
be fortified further to reduce economic losses to
farmers. These results are similar to those
reported by Gondwe et al (2003), Mapiye and
Sibanda (2005).

The disease symptoms reported are suggestive

of chronic respiratory distress, Fowl Pox,
Ranikhet disease, Coccidiosis, syngamosis, ecto-
parasitism, dermatitis problems and bumble foot.
 56

This is in agreement with the findings of Huq and

Mallik (1998), who found that lack of quality
feed supply, vaccines especially RD, Infectious
Bursal Disease (IBD) and Marek’s disease, low
price of dressed broilers and eggs were the
constraints faced by farmers. There is the need
to educate the farmers on the proper disposal of
wastes as well as dead birds. All of the
households had vaccinated their birds during the
RD vaccination programme under Assistance to
States for Control of Animal Diseases (ASCAD) of
the Panchayath indicates the success of this
Central Government programme, conducted in
collaboration with the Animal Husbandry
Department.

The study also shows that, the death rate

was high in chicks followed by growers and adult
birds and diseases contributed markedly to high
flock mortalities recorded during rainy season.
These results are in agreement with reports from
other developing countries( Kitalyi 1998, Minga
et al 1989). Dessie and Ogle (1996) recommended
that diseases spread faster in large flocks
compared to smaller flocks. High disease levels
were probably due to exposure of chickens to the
natural environment, interaction of different
entities, within and among flock contacts during
scavenging, uncontrolled introduction of new
stocks, contacts through exchange or sale of live
chickens or movement between households and
villages (Mapiye and Sibanda 2005)

There is the need to ensure regular supply

of Ranikhet disease and Fowl Pox vaccines to the
 57

farmers as these two diseases create havoc in the

rural poultry production systems. Though the
farmers were aware of contagious and zoonotics
diseases, the fact that none of the households
adopt bio-security measures, are a matter of
serious concern.

Main constraints to rearing chicks being the

lack of feed, disease outbreaks, predators and
poor management, if proper attention is directed
towards these, their mortality rates can be
brought down considerably. Chick mortality could
be controlled in one of the Panchayaths by
adopting the administration of anti- stress
medications and glucose to them immediately after
reaching the farmers premises.

Cross bred hens start laying at an age

varying from 160 to 175 days, which is much
better than the desi hens. In some cases, the egg
production was nil. This might be due to the poor
nutritional status of the birds prior to the
start of lay. The analysis of feeding practices
indicated that in most of the households no
protein source is fed to the birds. Mostly birds
in lay alone have access to ample quantities of
feed. Hens lay an average of 15 eggs per clutch
with an annual production varying from less than
100 to 140 per year. The expected production of
various crosses distributed in the District from
Kerala Agricultural University is as given below
in Table 4. A comparison indicated that most of
the birds were performing far below the
benchmarks.
 58

Characteristics Gramalakshmi Gramasree Gramapriya

Age at sexual maturity in days 160 152 150
Age at 50% egg production 180 175 180
Annual egg production (upto 72 180-200 190-200 200-225
weeks of age) in numbers
Body weight at 72 weeks in kg 1.8 2 1.8
Egg weight in g 50 52-55 55
Egg Colour Light Brown Brown tinted
Livability in % 95 95 95
Purpose Backyard Backyard Backyard

Feeding Scavenging + 25-30 Scavenging + Scavenging + 25-

g balanced layer 25-30 g 30 g balanced
ration balanced layer layer ration
ration
Table 4 Production performance of standard
birds
Households consume about 75 % of the eggs
laid and this definitely improves the plane of
nutrition at the household level.

There is a better preference for brown

shelled eggs owing to the age old misconcept
that, they are better in the nutritional and
medicinal value. The average price obtained for
each egg being Rs.3 to 4 is comparatively higher
indicating that there is the preference for farm
fresh eggs in the District. Value addition may be
resorted to at various levels to improve the
returns to farmer. Those birds which did not
produce any eggs were sold for meat at around 8
months of age when they attained around 2 kg body
weight. All the poultry owners reported that, the
price of eggs and birds varied according to
 59

season and religious festivals like Easter, Eid

etc.

A good majority of the respondents were

kudumbasree members and they were provided with
training in poultry rearing and financial support
from banks to start poultry enterprises.

As the farmers kept no records of the expenditure

incurred only approximates of the cost of
production could be calculated. Under the
prevailing conditions in Kerala, backyard system
of rearing seems to be the ideal solution to
improve egg and meat production and thus ensure
food security.

5.2 Evaluation of Broiler Integrators in the

Panchayath

5.2. 1. Socio-economic Profile of

Respondents
The broiler unit owners according to their age
were categorized into three groups, i.e., young,
middle and old. The data presented in Table below
reveals that majority of the poultry owners
(46.67%) belonged to the middle age group, while
30 per cent poultry owners were from older age
 60

group and 23.33 per cent hailed from the young

age group.
Majority of the respondents were well educated

and all of them could read and write. A majority

of the respondents (50%) belonged to the schedule

caste. About 56% of the respondents had a medium

family size. A vast majority (83.33%) of the

respondents lived as joint families. About 60% of

the respondents had agriculture and animal

husbandry as their major occupation.

Fifty–three per cent of the respondents were

marginal farmers, 33% small farmers and the rest

were large scale farmers. About 43.44% of the

respondents had more than 3 years experience and

33.33% had more than 8 years experience in this

field. Seventy three per cent of the farmers had

moderate to high level of satisfaction in their

job.

These farmers reared flocks of a size ranging

from 1000 to 10000. Birds are housed in units of

size 900 to 1200 per shed. Most of the farmers

owned multiple sheds. The observations made with

respect to the variables studies is given in the

table 5 below.

Variables Category No. of Percentage

respondents
 61

Young (less than 7 23.33

32 yrs)

Age Middle (32- 14 46.67

47yrs)

Older (more than 9 30.00

47 yrs)

Primary 4 13.33

Education High school 9 30.00

Pre-degree 14 46.67

Graduate and 3 10.00

above

Religion Hindu 16 53.33

Muslim 2 6.67

Others 0 0.00

Christian 12 40.00

Caste General 12 40.00

Schedule caste 15 50.00

Schedule tribe 0 0.00

Other backward 3 10.00

caste

Family type Nuclear 5 16.67

Joint 25 83.33

Family size Small (less than 10 33.33

4 members)
Medium (5-7 17 56.67
members)

Large (more than 3 10.00

8 members)
 62

Major Agriculture 10 33.33

Occupation
Animal Husbandry 8 26.67

Service 2 6.67

Business 3 10.00

Labour 7 23.33

Land holding Landless 0 0.00

Marginal 16 53.34
( 10 cents)

Small 10 33.33
(25 cents)

Large 4 13.33

Flock size Small <2000 6 20.00

Medium 2001- 20 66.67

5000

Large >5001 4 13.33

Experience < 3 year 7 23.33

4-8 years 13 43.34

8 years 10 33.33

Level of Low 8 26.66

satisfaction
Moderate 13 43.34

High 9 30.00

Constraints Diseases 15 50.00

Waste Disposal 23 76.67

Lack of space 12 40.00

Taxation 19 63.33
 63

Table 5 Observed frequencies and percentages of

variables
5.2. 2 General rearing practices

5.2.2.1 Type of farm unit- Integration

There are more than 50 farmers in the

Panchayath who are involved in this type of
projects. The major integrator is Thompson group.
Day old chicks are supplied to trained farmers
according to their potential to rear birds as
well as the availability of land.

The vaccinations are done as follows

0-5 day – RDF Vaccine
10- 14 days – IBD Vaccine
20 days- 25 days – RD Lasota Vaccine

Feed, feeders waterers, vaccines etc are

provided by the integrators. B- Complex vitamins
are administered on daily basis. There are
regular visits by veterinary supervisors and
veterinarians visit on request to ensure the
health of the birds. Medicines and disinfectants
are also provided by the integrators. The farmer
has to provide the shed, put in the labour and do
the management.

The birds are reared to a period varying

from 35 to 50 days and they may weigh from 1.60
kg to 3 kg. The farmers get a remuneration
varying from Rs.2 to 3.60 per kg depending upon
the prevailing market rates. Five to six batches
 64

of birds are reared in a year with a down time of

10-15 days in between.

5.2.3 Discussion of the findings

The data obtained revealed that majority of
the poultry owners (46.67%) belonged to the
middle age group, The fact that backyard poultry
farmers are mostly not from the old age group is
conducive, since they will be more malleable to
change. It is obvious that in today's world of
modernization, the younger generation will
obviously have more scientific orientation and
consequently, adopt more number of technologies.

Education is one of the important factors

which promote the development of any enterprise.
Education results in changes in overall
behaviour. Majority of the respondents were well
educated and all of them could read as suggested
by the high literacy rates in Kerala. About 10
per cent were graduates indicating that, educated
people are also taking up poultry rearing as a
means of livelihood.

A majority of the respondents (50%)

belonged to the schedule caste. About 56% of the
respondents had a medium family size. A vast
majority (83.33%) of the respondents lived as
joint families. About 60% of the respondents had
agriculture and animal husbandry as their major
occupation. The role of the poultry owners in a
family largely depends on the type and size of
the family. The time available with the members
of the household largely depends on the number of
members as well as the type of family. It is
 65

clear that most of the respondents had a family

size above four and belonged to joint families,
and as the number of individuals involved in the
business are more, birds get better care
throughout the day.

Fifty–three per cent of the respondents

were marginal farmers, 33% small farmers and the
rest were large scale farmers. There was equal
participation from all castes, but usually
poultry are kept only in the rural villages.
There is the need to propagate poultry rearing in
the suburbs through the popularization of
homestead cages.

Poultry rearing is accepted as a subsidiary

occupation by majority of the rural households.
As pointed out by Dr. M S Swaminathan, India now
needs to have a campaign for achieving
nutritional security and if the rural population
sticks to the old tradition of caste related
occupation; this would most definitely hamper the
progress.

The findings of the study further shows that

backyard poultry farming was found to be a
subsidiary occupation for all the respondents.
The findings are in consonance with the findings
Panda and Nanda (2000) and Saha (2003). Thus,
this enterprise could prove to be an excellent
source of income to support their livelihood. It
could provide gainful employment to the family
members and utilize the land available with the
farmers. In most of the cases in the present
study, the families had more than one occupation
 66

for their source of income. The earnings from all

sources of income were, however, pooled in the
family.

Many farmers had batches with more than 2000

birds, this indicates the high level of business
these farmers are involved in. The study shows
that all the respondents kept poultry of medium
size units. Since, diversification is the need of
the hour, thus, given the present scenario, rural
poultry can offer an excellent avenue of
employment.

The most important problem faced by the

broiler farmers is that of waste disposal. Due to
the lack of space many farmers cannot get rid of
the wastes hygienically. There is the need to
probe into measures for proper waste disposal and
propagate the same among these entrepreneurs. It
is a known fact that many a good farms were
closed down in Kerala due to the hazardous waste
coming from them creating problems in the
neighbourhood. They if not treated properly are
liable to contaminate the waterways and the
surroundings leading to a serious health problem.
Value added tax imposed by the government of
Kerala is yet another major problem faced by the
farmers. A good portion of the profit will have
to be remitted as tax. This can lead to all the
farmers trying to reduce their profits to evade
tax to the extend possible. This in turn will
lead to all farmers restricting the number of
batches or the total number of birds reared. So,
due to under utilizing of space, optimum
 67

production will not happen and thus the cost of

production can go up.
Incidence of diseases continue to be a big
problem and there is the need to educate them
more on the hygienic precautions and bio-security
measures to be adopted in farms. This point has a
greater significance in the dawn of Avian
Influenza threat in all parts of the world. The
study by Mandal (2006) revealed that mortality
rate in desi birds due to Ranikhet disease was
highest, followed by Fowl pox, Coccidiosis,
respiratory problems and other miscellaneous
diseases, which corresponds with the findings of
Saha (2003). The study also shows that, the death
rate was high in chicks followed by growers and
adult birds and diseases contributed markedly to
high flock mortalities recorded during rainy
season (Mandal2006).
High disease levels were probably due to
exposure of chickens to the natural environment,
interaction of different entities, within and
among flock contacts during scavenging,
uncontrolled introduction of new stocks, contacts
through exchange or sale of live chickens or
movement between households and villages(Mapiye
and Sibanda 2005)

Lack of space leads to smaller stocks and

this will increase the cost of production, and
lesser profits. The commodity prices would go up
leading to fewer purchases.
 68

Evaluation of poultry projects implemented in the two

Panchayaths during the past 5 years.
5.3.1 Pullet Distribution schemes

Poultry projects have been regularly

implemented in the Panchayaths of Kerala through

the Animal Husbandry Department, Local self

governments, Kerala State Poultry Development

Corporation and some private players.

In Panchayath – I, poultry projects are being

implemented for the past five consecutive years.

The details of beneficiaries, type of project are

given below in Table 6. The findings indicate

that there is a good proportion of beneficiaries

from the under privileged sector of the society.

There has been considerable increase in the

number of birds distributed in the Panchayath

during the last year owing to the implementation

of Pullet Distribution schemes (SEP) under the

tsunami rehabilitation programme of the

government. In the first three years, all the

poultry distribution was done without any Plan

Fund.

There has been considerable improvement in the

poultry population in the Panchayath as evidenced

 69

by the latest census reports. As the farmers are

not with the habit of keeping records of

production only estimates of production could be

obtained. In this Panchayath more poultry

projects have been envisaged and implemented

owing to the increased demand from the society.

Two egger nurseries have been started by the

middle of the last financial year taking into

consideration the increase demand for chicks in

the Panchayath.

st
Panchayath I IInd IIIrd IVth Vth

I year year year year year

Plan Fund - - - 1,65,000 1,45,000
Beneficiary 55000 124000 60000 78000 25000
contribution
Beneficiaries 110 96 163 115 222
SC/ST 24 28 34 55
beneficiaries
Types of Pullet Pullet Pullet School Egger
projects distrib- distrib- distrib- poultrynurseries-
ution ution ution club 2 nos
Pullet Pullet
distribut distributi
ion on
No of birds 550 980 815 575 1100
distributed
Table 6 Details of poultry projects in

Panchayath-I
 70

1200
1100

1000 980
No of birds distributed
815
800

600 550 575

400

200

0
I II III IV V

Fig 3 Details of pullets distributed in the last five years

5.3.2 Performance of the Egger Nurseries in

the Panchayath

The higher demand for pullets has led to an

egger nursery project being envisaged in the

Panchayath. At present two beneficiaries have

been selected and trained or the same by the

Animal Husbandry Department. It is expected that

units of 1000 bird capacity will help to address

the problem of non-availability of quality chicks

in the Panchayath. Chicks are purchased from the

Kerala Agricultural University. On the day of

purchase they are given B-complex vitamins and

glucose in the drinking water. This practice has

helped the farmers to reduce the chick mortality

to bare minimum (1%).

 71

These chicks are brooded for a period of 15 days

and then are reared for a period of at least 40

days of age. Vaccinations are carried out as per

the stipulations of the Centre for Advanced

Studies in Poultry Science. The birds are

dewormed, vaccinated against Ranikhet Disease and

distributed to beneficiaries who had booked for

the same with the local veterinary surgeon. All

the pullets are sold before 45 days of age. The

farmers are obtaining on an average a profit of

Rs. 6000/- per batch.

The birds which are supplemented with

compounded feed were found to start laying at 160

days of age on an average. The egg production was

again found to vary from nil to 160 eggs per

annum. The average egg weight was found to be

around 50g.Though there are no egg cooperatives

in the Panchayath, there has been an attempt to

collect eggs from the households. Each egg

fetches a minimum of Rs 2.50/-. This egg is being

utilized in the mid day meal programme for school

going children in the Panchayath. At present

there are two schools implementing this project.

This has been a stimulus for the farmers to

produce table eggs, as there is good and regular

demand for the same in the Panchayath.

 72

5.3.3 School Poultry Club Project

During the last financial year, this project with

an outlay of around Rs 1 lakh has been

implemented in the Panchayath. Each selected

student is given 5 birds free of cost (1 male: 4

females). Some quantity of compounded feed was

also given to the beneficiaries. This project is

implemented among students from the Below Poverty

Line Category with the objective that it would

help to improve the nutritional status of these

children. It is expected that the eggs produced

will be available for consumption for their

households and thus the children will have an

access to an additional protein source in their

diet.

Vaccination and deworming programmes have been

implemented to augment production and thus ensure

better productivity. Training programmes were

conducted for the student prior to the

distribution of birds. Enclosures for these birds

were constructed at the houses under the

supervision of the project supervisor. Steps were

taken to ensure that there will be monthly

meeting of the club members and regular

evaluation of the progress of the programme.

 73

This scheme has been implemented only in the last

financial year and hence the critical evaluation

of the same can be done only ion a later stage.

It could be seen that there is a belief among

farmers that brown shelled eggs are better for

health than white shelled ones. Farmers preferred

coloured birds to white feathered birds in their

backyard. Highest livability was seen in the case

of Gramapriya followed by Gramasree.

In Panchayath – II, poultry projects are being

implemented for the past five consecutive years.

The details of beneficiaries, type of project are

all given below in table 7.

Years => I II III IV V

Items
Plan Fund 1,02,000 60,000 - 125000
Beneficiaries 97 53 25 106 300
SC/ST 3 25 50
beneficiaries
Type of Backyard Backyard Backyard Backyard
project
poultry poultry poultry poultry

No of birds 488 372 125 539 2500

distributed

Table 7 Details of poultry projects in

Panchayath-II

5.3.4 Panchayath-II
 74

The evaluation of the projects implemented

in Panchayath –II indicated that during the last

year, more than 2500 birds have been distributed

to the beneficiaries. There are no broiler units

in the Panchayath. The trend is that there is an

increase in the demand for chicks from year to

year.

Birds distributed in the last 5 years

3000

2500 2500

2000

1500

1000
number
of birds 500 488 539
372
0 0
I V
II III IV
Years

Fig 4 Details of pullets distributed in the last five years in

Panchayath-II

The local veterinary surgeon had devised the

project in such a way that some quantity of

compounded feed is also supplied to the

beneficiaries at the time of distribution of

pullets to the farmers. So also they will be

provided with B-complex vitamins and glucose on

that day. The Panchayath had distributed

 75

Gramapriya and Gramalakshmi with good acceptance

by the farmers.

5.3.5 Financial Matters

The cost of a pullet from 45 to 60 days age

varies from Rs. 50 to 75. A farmer rearing 1000

pullet for egg purpose under moderate conditions

gets a gross profit of around Rs 6000 to 10000.

This indicates that more ,egger nursery projects

may be envisaged and implemented in the

Panchayath to create job opportunity and income

for the local farmers, cater to the needs of the

farmers through supply of chicks and thus

increase the poultry wealth and egg production in

the state.

The Veterinarians of both Panchayaths opined

that there is the need to ensure year round

supply of quality chicks to the farmers. It is

necessary that these chick nurseries get ample

number of day old chicks from the government

farms and approved agencies for the perpetuation

of the project in the years to come.

 76

5.4 Socio-economic development (SED) registered

if any consequent to these projects.

The principal measures of SED are education,

nutritional standards, occupation, and income or

combinations of these.

• Improvement in knowledge level/ skills

• Increase in income

• Improvement in the nutritional status of the

households

• Trainings received

• Job satisfaction

5.4.a Knowledge level

Knowledge level is an important measure because

it does not usually change (as occupation or

income might) after young adulthood and

information about education can be obtained

easily. There information gathered from the

broiler farmers indicated that they were well

aware about the management of birds, diseases and

Biosecurity measures.

5.4. b. Nutritional Aspects

It could be noted that the eggs produced in the

house holds are consumed by the family members

 77

themselves (75%) and the rest is being utilized

for local sales. Though the income generated

through the sales of these eggs is not too

significant, the improvement in the nutritional

status of the households need to be considered. A

family with 5 hens on an average with 150 eggs

each would produce 750 eggs in the production

cycle. If 10 per cent of all these eggs are lost,

from among the remaining 675, 25% is locally

sold. These 169 eggs sold @ Rs 2.50 each would

generate an income of Rs 422/- per family. The

rest, i.e. 506 eggs are consumed in the

household. The cost of this would come to Rs

1266/-. This in other words on an average would

come up to 25 kgs of eggs and proportionate

amount of protein.

The findings of this study is in agreement with

the findings of Mandal(2006), who reveals that

majority of the poultry owners(85%) did not sell

the eggs and used them for domestic consumption,

whereas, only 15 per cent respondents sold the

surplus eggs. However, with regard to selling of

birds' majority of the poultry owners (90%) sold

birds and only 10 per cent respondents did not

sell birds.
 78

Mandal (2006) reported an average selling price

of Rs.2.75 for desi, whereas, in case of birds

the average selling price was Rs.120 when it

attained a body weight of about (1.5-2)kg.

5.4.c . Financial Aspects

It is clear that as a consequence of the project

there will be considerable improvement in the

nutritional status of these families as well as

provides an additional income when their salvage

value is realized at the end of production. In

the case of males, higher are the returns as

birds sold during the festivals and for religious

purpose fetch around Rs 250/- each. The few eggs

which are kept aside for hatching are utilized to

either propagate the flock or for local sales.

5.4.d. Trainings received

All the farmers had received training in poultry

rearing from the integrator. Local poultry

farmers regularly received the training from

Animal Husbandry Department. Their awareness

about diseases, their control, vaccination

techniques were all very high.

5.4.e Job satisfaction

 79

The findings on the table in page 37 indicated

that 73.37 % of the respondents had moderate to

high level of satisfaction with their job. The

low satisfaction was on account of the objections

raised by the neighbours like foul smell and

absence of a provision for proper waste disposal.

 80

5.5. To investigate the profitability of backyard

and small scale poultry projects.

5.5.a Profitability of Backyard poultry

Projects

Items of production ie the expenses, income,

profit, cost of production etc in backyard

poultry production is given in the Table 8 given

below.

Table 8 Economics of backyard poultry units

No Item Nos Unit cost Total Cost

in Rs in Rs
Expenses
1 Cost of a pullet (60 10 75 750
days old )
2 Feed Requirement @ 15 kg/ 15 225
bird
3 Shelter/ 1 1000 1000

4 Miscellaneous 10 5 50

5 TOTAL Expenses 2025

6 Income

Egg Production 135 x 9 2.5 3038

7
8 Salvage value
females 9 50 450

9 Male 1 112 112

10 TOTAL Income 3600

11 Profit per unit 1575

12 Profit per bird 157.5

13 Cost of production of Rs 1.67

one egg
 81

Cost of pullets
Cost of egg production in Backyard
FeedCost
Shelter/
Miscellaneous
50 (2%)

750(37% )

1000(50% )

225(11% )

Fig 5 Split up of cost of production in backyard

units

The data shown above points out that when

the mortality rate is nil, a unit of 10 birds

reared by the farmer is capable of producing an

income upto Rs 3600/-. In that case the

profitability per bird would be as high as Rs

157.50/-This seems to be a nominal income and

hence may be suggested as a means to improve the

income of the rural poor.

5.5.b Profitability of Broiler integration

projects

There is seasonal variation in the cost of

broiler meat. All the fluctuations in cost levels

in the neighbouring state like TamilNadu affect

the price of chicken in the District. Usually

 82

integrators get a profit varying from Rs.2 to

3.60 per kg depending upon the prevailing market

rates. So a farmer with 1000 birds in a batch and

6 such batches per year on an average makes a

profit of 30000 annually.

5.5.c Profitability of small scale broiler

farmers

The estimates of expenditure and income with

respect to broiler units of size 1000 and 6

batches per year, undertaken entirely by the

farmer and birds sold locally for meat indicated

the following. The economics of production are

depicted in Table 9 below.

Sl Item Amount
no (Rs)
1 Average Cost of production of 1 kg meat 42.00

2 Average weight of a broiler bird 1.9 kg

3 Average Cost of production of a broiler bird 79.80

4 Average selling price of 1 kg of broiler 50.00

5 Average profit per bird 8.00

6 Average profit for 1000 birds reared 8000.00

7 Profit per year 48000.00

Table 9 Economics of broiler production

 83

5.6 The constraints faced by poultry farmers.

Problems faced by the farmers with egger

nurseries were as follows ( table 10),(fig 6).

Value
Problems added tax
Problems Non- Non- Threat Threat Problems of Sales & imposed by Complaints
Availability Availability from from Lack of of Waste Marketin the from
of Feed of Birds predators Diseases space Disposal g government neighbours

Mean
Scores 3.47 3.73 5.03 5.63 4.67 3.00 2.47 2.89 4.18

Rank
6 5 2 1 3 7 9 8 4
Table 10 Ratings of constraints faced by poultry
farmers
Threat from diseases continue to be the
greatest problem followed by threat from
predators, lack of space, complaints from
neighbourhood, non availability of quality chicks
as per the need and at the proper time. This
finding points out the fact that there is the
need to strengthen the disease control measures
like vaccination and other hygienic precautions
like disposal of wastes and dead birds.

Ratings
6.00 5.63 Ratings
5.03
5.00 4.67
4.18
4.00 3.73
3.47
3.00 2.89
3.00 2.47

2.00

1.00

0.00
Feed B irds Predators Diseases Space Disposal Sales V AT C omplaints
&M ktg
Constraints
 84

The major constraints felt by broiler farmers as

expressed in percentage is given below in Table

11, Fig 6.

Table 11 Constraints felt by broiler farmers

 85

Constraints faced by broiler farmers

70 65.35

Percentage of farmers
60.08
60 54.74
50.1 49.35
50

40
32.26 30.65
28.76 27
30 25.6

20

10

0
Constraints
Diseases chicks Tax Subsidy feed
Other State Neighbour Space Waste Marketing

Fig 7 Constraints felt by broiler farmers

Threat from predators have been highlighted as a

bigger problem because of the so called

unidentified animal attacks in the coastal

Panchayaths during last year. This was later on

identified as packs of street dogs and necessary

steps were taken to control this menace. Lack of

space is the major constraint faced by any

livestock / poultry farmer or entrepreneur in

Kerala. Complaints from the neighbourhood are

mostly on account of improper disposal of wastes

and dead birds. Lack of space might have led to

this problem. Non availability of quality chicks

can be solved only by steeping up the production

of birds through satellite farms and hatching

them through hatcheries at the Panchayath level.

 86

It is understandable that Government an quasi

government institutions in this arena are not in

a position to completely satisfy the demand.

 87

RECOMMENDATIONS
 88

6. To develop strategies to improve the success

of poultry projects. - Recommendations

• Poultry Farmers Service Centres may be

established on Regional basis to provide

need based service to farmers be it Quality

chicks, Feed, Biologicals, and Medicines on

subsidised rates and Technical Advice.

• Health coverage to the birds in the rural

areas needs to be strengthened. Timely

vaccinations and medication, coupled with

strict bio-security measures are needed.

Availability of vaccines and drugs, as also

their safety in terms of acceptable levels

in end products for human consumption are

other issues needed to be tackled.

• Special emphasis is needed for creating a

marketing network of rural poultry produce.

There is a need to improve processing,

preservation and marketing of eggs and

poultry products. It needs to be supported

by providing infrastructure for meat

processing, packaging, preservation and

marketing with value addition of products

and maintaining a cold chain till the

product reaches the consumer.

 89

• With intensive production, environmental

pollution abatement and bio-waste management

strategies have to be worked out. Exemption

of VAT (value added tax) on poultry and

better insurance coverage to poultry units

to mitigate natural disasters and disease

incidences will help to promote poultry

farming.

• Duck production is a feasible choice for

ensuring the food security of the rural

poor. This improves the nutritive status via

egg and meat and improves economic activity

by giving supplementary income.

• Strengthening of other species like quail

and turkey for eggs and meat will enable us

to ensure food security.

• Farm fresh egg and meat production is

another option to maximize the returns to

farmers in poultry sector.

• Organic egg and meat production will add to

the returns of the farmers and also ensure

the health of the members of the society.

Kerala has tremendous potential in organic

poultry because of the existence of

traditional backyard system. Thus with the

 90

help of appropriate approach and technology,

the backyard system of poultry rearing can

be transformed into a successful organic

venture.

• Considering the impact of the rural poultry

on poverty alleviation it is essential for

Government to launch comprehensive

programmes of development of the Desi

chicken on a long-term basis. Given the

initial all-round support such dynamic

programmes can gain momentum and can move on

their own steam. If these programmes are

started, within one decade the country can

make a Rural Poultry Revolution pushing a

large percentage of the poor above the

Poverty Line.

• Methods for proper disposal of poultry waste

and dead birds are to be devised and

propagated among the farmers.

• There is the need to ensure strict bio-

security measures in all the small and even

backyard units as a precautionary measure

against Avian Influenza threat.

• There is the need for a detailed evaluation

of the poultry projects implemented in all

 91

the Panchayaths. Social and performance is

to be undertaken on a regular basis. Impact

assessment should be in a uniform manner so

that the performance of different

Panchayaths can be directly compared.

• There is the need to keep record of the

production performance of the hens in the

backyard system so as to get the exact cost

of production and profitability details.

• Need based projects have to be devised and

implemented in the Panchayaths. Resource

mapping may be done to utilize the locally

available feedstuff in the formulation of

concentrate feed to the birds.

• Measures for value addition may be instilled

in the minds of the farmers to make poultry

farming more profitable.

 92

CONCLUSION
 93

CONCLUSION
Backyard Poultry Farming plays a significant role
in rural people's life. These birds in addition
to cash income have nutritional, cultural and
social functions. The rural poultry owners had
poor knowledge about feeding, breeding and
management practice, which led to poor
performance of the birds. Increasing the
awareness on new technologies as well as the
recommended practices can help to maximize the
productivity and consequently the income of
poultry farmers. On-farm training of rural
poultry owners is also necessary so as to bring
about changes in their practices.

The middleman needs to be trained and included in

the extension programme for backyard poultry
farming. Farmers need training to be able to
control disease, improve management and increase
size of flock. Most of the farmers were reluctant
to rear large flocks as they lacked skills and
capital.

Inputs like feed, training on processing, support

for marketing are to be provided to sustain the
farmers in this field. Backyard poultry farming
utilizing the varieties and cross breds developed
for this purpose can help to improve the
nutritional and economic status of the rural
poor, women and unemployed youth.
 94

SUMMARY
 95

SUMMARY

Poultry production in Kerala remains largely as a

backyard venture with virtually no modern units.
These backyard birds have low to medium
productivity. Poultry production has undergone
rapid changes during the past decades due to the
introduction of modern intensive production
methods, new breeds and improved preventive
disease control and bio-security measures. This
study was conducted to evaluate the projects
implemented in past and restructure the future
poultry projects as needed. This will result in
better profitability and streamlining of poultry
production in the District.

A vast majority (96.67 %) of the respondents

considered poultry rearing as a subsidiary
occupation. Seventy-three percent of the farmers
give supplementary feed to chicken. There is no
regular time for feeding of poultry as well as
there is no proper idea about the nutritional
requirements of poultry. Cross bred hens start
laying from 160 to 175 days. Households consume
about 75 % of the eggs laid. Selling of eggs is
not common. Price of eggs and birds varied
according to season and religious festivals.

Farmers had no proper idea about the nutritional

requirements of poultry, proper disposal of
wastes as well as dead birds. Regular supply of
Ranikhet disease and Fowl Pox vaccines is to be
ensured.
 96

The average price obtained for each egg being

Rs.3 to 4. Broiler integration farmers and their
situation were studied in detail. As the farmers
are not with the habit of keeping records of
production only estimates of production could be
obtained. Today, more poultry projects have been
envisaged and implemented owing to the increased
demand from the society. Vaccinations are carried
out as per the stipulations of the Centre for
Advanced Studies in Poultry Science. Each egg
fetched a minimum of Rs 2.50/.Farmers preferred
coloured birds to white feathered birds in their
backyard. More, egger nursery projects may be
envisaged. Local poultry farmers regularly
received the training from Animal Husbandry
Department.

Poultry Farmers Service Centres may be

established on Regional basis to provide need
based service to farmers be it Quality chicks,
Feed, Biologicals, and Medicines on subsidised
rates and Technical Advice. Special emphasis is
needed for creating a marketing network of rural
poultry produce. There is a need to improve
processing, preservation and marketing of eggs
and poultry products. Exemption of VAT on poultry
and better insurance coverage to poultry units to
mitigate natural disasters and disease incidences
will help to promote poultry farming.

Duck production is a feasible choice for ensuring

the food security of the rural poor. This
improves the nutritive status via egg and meat
and improves economic activity by giving
supplementary income. Farm fresh egg and meat
 97

production, Organic egg production are other

viable options. Farmers need training to be able
to control disease, improve management and
increase size of flock.
 98

REFERENCES
 99

REFERENCES

Books

Rahman, H. Z and Hossain. M (1995)

(eds)(1999). Rethinking Rural Poverty:Bangladesh
as a case study. UPL, Dhaka. Sage publications
New Delhi.

Journal Article

Gondwe, T.N.P., Ambali, A.J.D., Chilera,

F.C., Lwesya, H. & Wollny, C.B.A. (1999). Rural
poultry biodiversity in Lilongwe and Mzuzu.
Agricultural Development Divisions (ADD), Malawi.
Malawi J. Science and Technol., 5: 17-25.

Conference proceedings

Todd, H. (1999). Women Climbing out of

Poverty through Credit; or what do Cows have to
do with it? In: F. Dolberg and P. H. Petersen
(eds.) Women in Agriculture and Modern
Communication Technology. Proceedings of a
workshop, March 30-April 3, 1998, Tune
Landboskole, Denmark.
www.husdyr.kvl.dk/htm/php/tune98/2-HelenTodd.htm.
(Also published in Livestock Research for Rural
Development
http://www.cipav.org.co/lrrd/lrrd10/3/todd103.htm

Jensen, H. Askov (2000). Paradigm and

Visions: Network for Poultry Production in
Developing Countries. In: F. Dolberg and P. H.
 100

Petersen (eds.) Poultry as a Tool in Poverty

Eradication and Promotion of Gender Equality
Proceedings of a workshop, March 22-26, 1999,
Tune Landboskole, Denmark.
http://www.husdyr.kvl.dk/htm/php/tune99/3-
AJensen.htm

K.M.Bujarbaruah and J.J.Gupta (2005) Family

poultry for the development of NEH region ICAR
Research Complex for NEH Region,Umiam, Barapani,
Meghalaya IPSACON-2005 Email:
kmbujarbaruah@123india.com

C. Krishna Rao (2005) A rural poultry

revolution for poverty alleviation in rural India
Former Animal Husbandry Commissioner, Govt. of
India, H.No. 110, Jaya Nagar , New Bowenpally,
Secunderabad – 500 011 IPSACON-2005

Book Chapter

C Mapiye and S Sibanda Livestock Research

for Rural Development 17 (10) (2005) Constraints
and opportunities of village chicken production
systems in the smallholder sector of Rushinga
district of Zimbabwe , Department of Agriculture,
Bindura University of Science Education. P. Bag
1020, Bindura, Zimbabwe
cmapiye@yahoo.co.uk*Department of Animal Science,
University of Zimbabwe, P.O Box MP 167, Mt
Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe. Fao publication
 101

M K Mandal, N Khandekar and P Khandekar

(2006) Livestock Research for Rural Development
18 (7) 2006 Backyard poultry farming in
Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh, India: an
analysis malayjammu@yahoo.com

Singh C.B. and Jilani M.H.(2005) Animal

Science Section, GBPUA&T, Hill Campus,
Ranichauri, Tehri Garhwal- 249 199 (UA) Backyard
poultry farming in Garhwal Himalayas Animal
Science Section.

Internet Resource

Md Fazlul Huq and. Kabir Mallik (1998) The

Role of Women in Poultry Development: Proshika
Experiences, Proshika, Dhaka, Bangladesh , E-
mail: proshika@bdonline.com ,
http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/004/AC154E/AC154E04.htm

S. Mack, D. Hoffmann and J. Otte (2000)

Animal Production and Health Division, Food and
Agriculture, The contribution of poultry to
rural development Organization of the United
Nations, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100
Rome,Italy *Corresponding author:
Simon.Mack@fao.org

del Ninno, C., Dorosh, P. A., Smith, L.C.

and Roy, D.K (2001). The 1998 Floods in
Bangladesh. Disaster Impacts, Household Coping
Strategies, and Response. International Food
Policy Research Institute, Washington.
http://www.ifpri.cgiar.org/
pubs/abstract/abstr122.htm
 102

Dolberg, F. (2001). A livestock development

approach that contributes to poverty alleviation
and widespread improvement of nutrition among the
poor. Livestock Research for Rural Development:
http://www.cipav.org.co/lrrd/lrrd13/5/dolb135.htm

Karlan, D. S. (2002). Social Capital and

Group Banking. Downloaded from
http://web.mit.edu/spencer/www/soccappaper.pdf

Frands Dolberg(2003) The Review of Household

Poultry Production as a Tool in Poverty
Reduction with Focus on Bangladesh and India Pro-
Poor Livestock Policy Initiative (PPLPI)Website:
http://www.fao.org/ag/pplpi.html Working Paper
pdf(English):
http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/projects/en/pplpi
/docarc /wp6.pdf 2 , http://
www.poultrysolutions.com/
pserv/DetailedNews?news_id=508 (September 8,
2003).

Timothy N.P. Gondwe, Clemens B.A. Wollny,

A.C.L. Safalaoh, F.C. Chilera and Mizeck G.G.
Chagunda (2003) Community-Based Promotion of
Rural Poultry Diversity, Management, Utilization
and Research in Malawi. Department of Animal
Science, Bunda College of Agriculture, University
of Malawi, PO Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi. (E-mail:
tgondwe@chirunga.sdnp.org.mw)

Choprakarn and Kitti Wongpichet (2007)

Faculty of Agriculture, Ubon Ratchathani
University, Thailand, Kreingkrai. Village chicken
 103

production systems in Thailand. E-mail address of

corresponding author: kreingkraicho@yahoo.com
 104

APPENDICES
 105

APPENDIX-I
POULTRY POPULATION IN KERALA AS PER 2003 CENSUS

Sl No Districts Total Ducks Total Fowls

1 Thiruvananthapuram 14,459 1,027,219

2 Kollam 72,135 690,352

3 Pathanamthitta 30,763 615,825

4 Alappuzha 251,132 594,197

5 Kottayam 70,338 926,868

6 Idukki 11,114 413,099

7 Ernakulam 63,365 991,734

8 Thrissur 49,214 1,192,016

9 Palakkad 33,120 1,132,467

10 Malappuram 39,367 1,444,351

11 Kozhikode 12,057 754,803

12 Kannur 4,040 449,951

13 Wayanad 7,828 320,870

14 Kasargod 1,677 438,080

TOTAL 660,609 10,991,832

ANNUAL POULTRY PRODUCTION
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
Egg (in lakh no.s)
Fowls 12475.45 11704.57 10948.63 10922.083
Ducks 993.43 1063.57 1025.54 1033.855
Total eggs 13468.88 12768.14 11974.17 11955.938
Total Animal Meat in the
42804 47663 54189 55921
organised sector
Total poultry meat 52611 39327 32704 27609
Total meat production
181023 182316 195271 195372
(including unorganised Sector)

ANNEXURE-II
 106

GENERAL STRATEGY FOR BACKYARD POULTRY UNIT

SCHEMES of KERALA STATE POULTRY DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION
• The egg production is planned through
backyard rearing system.
• The hatching eggs of the parent stock
maintained at the farms will be used for
producing day old chicks.
• The Day old Chicks will be reared in egger
nurseries of the Self Help Groups or farmer
or private individuals, which are acting as
a satellite farm.
• The birds when they attain 45-60 days will
be procured from the above farm and supplied
to beneficiaries .
• In case of shortage of birds, birds will be
procured from reputed firms outside the
state.
• The eggs thus produced and procured will be
marketed through the societies formed for
the specific purpose at remunerative price
to the producer.
• The feed produced by Kerala State Poultry
Development Corporation will be supplied for
the scheme (the installed capacity for feed
production is 16 Mt per shift). The feed
ingredients will be purchased on annual rate
contract for all the facilities.
• Beneficiaries will be selected by the
Panchayaths
• The Panchayaths and local bodies will be
directed to distribute pullets to the women
beneficiaries.

Project activity (Monitoring & Coordination)

This project activity will be entirely handled
by the Corporation for proper and effective
implementation. Required personnel will be
provided on contract basis to Co-ordinate and
 107

Supervise the Programme during its

implementation stage for its effectiveness in
implementation within the time scheduled. The
project will have a Programme Coordinator and
supported by programme Supervisors for
properly maintaining the accounts and other
details.

The Programme Supervisors will be responsible

for organizing the SHG’s and to guide in all
areas. They will be supported by Voluntary
Extension Workers at the grass root level
selected from among the KEPCO Club Members for
linking the beneficiaries with Supervisors /
Coordinators. The Programme Supervisors will
have good liaison with local Veterinary
Surgeons for providing timely health cover and
other technical guidance.

ORGANIZATION OF SOCIETIES
A KEPCO Club will be organized for every 20
beneficiaries and a Marketing Outlet is
organized comprising 20 KEPCO Clubs and one
Society in each Block. The Societies are formed
as per Charitable Societies Act, 1955 and
Organizing Body. All beneficiaries will be the
members of the Society formed. Each Society will
have 7 Governing Body Members including one
President, Secretary and Treasurer. The
organization of various activities will be
managed by the Societies. The societies will
also be responsible for the inspection of
equipments, various assets provided to the
beneficiaries, distribution of feed, birds, etc
and co-ordination of all the Sales Outlet Units
of the respective Block.
 108

The activities of the Societies will be as

below:
• To guide and supervise the primary level
societies.
• The primary societies will have sub centers
in the Panchayat for the purpose of egg
collection, distribution of other inputs.
• The eggs collected can be hatched using the
proposed mini hatchery in the societies.
• The chicks will be sold to the
beneficiaries on cost from the second year
onwards as replacement stock.
• The egger nurseries or integration farms
under KSPDC shall rear the chicks.
• The egg marketing will be done by the
society at block level.
• Each member has to contribute Rs.10/-
towards the membership fee. The cost of
eggs sold by the beneficiary can be
deposited in the society, which can be
utilized as thrift loan to needy members.
The amount can be utilized by KEPCO Clubs
to take up other income generating
activities. Since no subsidy is provided
during 2nd year, the Society should remit
the full cost of birds collected from
beneficiaries to KSPDC.
 109

• Once the market and remunerative price is

assured to the producers the growth of the
segment can be assured, as the growth is
market pulled.
• The birds required to be distributed for the
backyard poultry scheme is to be reared in 45
nurseries involving the SHGs and private
entrepreneurs. The SHGs and individuals
having shed to rear the birds will be
supplied chicks and feed and will rear the
birds under strict protocol of vaccination
and health care and the birds will be
procured and issued to the selected
beneficiaries of the local body through the
Veterinary institutions of the Panchayat.