LESSON 1: INDIAN POULTRY INDUSTRY: BRIEF VIEW

STRUCTURE
 Domesticated birds species
 Indian Poultry Scenario
 Sectors of Poultry Industry
 Summary

LEARNING OUTCOMES
After going through this lesson, you will be able to:
• Identify different species of domesticated birds
• Assess Indian egg, and meat production
• Describe different poultry sectors in India

DOMESTICATED BIRDS SPECIES

Poultry is one of the very important agri-business being practised in our country as well as in
other countries. How will you define poultry? The term "Poultry" indicates all domesticated
species of birds like chicken, duck, emu, geese, guinea fowl, ostrich, pigeon, quail and turkey
reared for producing eggs and meat to be used by consumers and this will ultimately lead to
income generation too. In India, Poultry contributes a major share in terms of protein
supplementation from eggs and meat in human diets. Amongst the animal products, which
are by and large substitutable in the diet, it is found that input-output ratio for poultry is most
favourable. The pictures below depict different species of birds falling under the common
terminology “Poultry” which are mainly reared for two purposes viz. meat (called ‘broilers’)
and eggs (called ‘layers’).

Chicken Duck Emu Geese Guinea Fowl

Japanese Quails Ostrich Pigeon Turkey

INDIAN POULTRY SCENARIO
Poultry industry four decades back was in the primitive stage of development. But now,
poultry farming has transformed into a full-fledged commercial system of rearing producing
eggs and meat. Poultry is one of the fastest growing segment of the agricultural sector in
India with an average growth rate of 8 to 10 per cent per year. India is now the world's third
largest egg producer and the fourth major producer of broilers. The estimated annual poultry
egg and meat production in India has steadily gone up to 75 billion eggs and 4 billion kg
broilers in 2016 from a meagre figure of about 5 billion eggs and 4 million broilers in 1971.
India’s contribution to world production is nearly 4% of eggs and 2% of chicken meat. With
a turnover of more than 680 billion rupees during 2016, the poultry industry provides direct
and indirect employment to over five million people in the country and has great potential to
create gainful employment with every increase in egg/meat consumption. It accounts about 1
% of the India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 10 % of the total GDP attributed to
livestock products. Consistent with the increase in production and productivity, the per capita
availability of eggs and poultry meat in India having a 1.3 billion human population in 2016
has also increased to 60 eggs and 3 kg meat per annum, which is still lower in comparison to
recommended levels (Nutritional Advisory Committee, Government of India) of 180 eggs
and 10 kg of meat per person per year. If this gap between the availability and requirement is
filled, it provides nutritional security to all Indians besides creating over 10 million jobs.
Table 1: Poultry Production and Consumption during the year 2015-16
Indicators Quantity
Egg production 75 billion eggs
Commercial broiler production 4.0 billion kgs or 4 million tonnes
Human Population 1.3 billion
Per capita egg availability 60 number
Per capita meat availability 3.0 Kg
Market value of broilers Rs. 425 billion during 2015
Market value of eggs Rs. 255 billion during 2015
Turnover poultry sector Rs. 680 Billion

Hybrid layers of today lay on an average of 310-320 eggs per year compared to 140-200 eggs
30 years back. During early eighties, broilers only achieved a mean body weight of 1.5 kg at
8 weeks of age with feed conversion ratio (FCR) of around 3.0, whereas, now it attains 1.8 to
2.0 kg mean body weight with a FCR of 1.6 to 1.8 in only 38 days (about 6 weeks).
India is the third largest producer of eggs in the world next only to China and USA and
producing 75 billion eggs in 2016. The states such as Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra
and Tamil Nadu are the major egg producing states that account for more than 60 per cent of
the eggs produced in the country. Higher per capita consumption of 57 eggs and 500 g of
broiler meat was recorded from southern region against the lowest consumption of 18 eggs
and 130 g of broiler meat in eastern region.

India ranks fourth in the world in respect of poultry meat production during 2006 with the
highest production recorded for USA followed by China, and Brazil. The poultry meat
production in India increased 18 folds from 81,000 tonnes in 1961 to 4 billion kgs in 2016.
Andhra Pradesh is the leading state in broiler production; followed by Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal and Karnataka. More than 65 per cent of the broilers
produced in India are raised in these states.

As you know, each enterprise or industry is being judged by the growth and market value.
Growth in agriculture sector is hardly 2-3%. But, in broilers we can notice that 10-12%
revenue growth per year over the last year. In case of layers, it was 6-8%. Growth in case of
broilers is more when compared to layer, because broilers grow fast and are only reared
maximum up to 8 weeks of age, whereas, layers start laying eggs only after 21 weeks of age.
When you look at the market value, it is 425 billion is spend for production of meat whereas
in case of layer it was 255 billion rupees. Next question comes to our mind is which one is
more profitable, layers or broilers? When you go to market, you would notice that people
prefer to buy broiler meat in comparison to other livestock meat like mutton or pork.

Poultry rearing has always been an integral component of livestock production system in
India. The concept of composite farming production system with crop, livestock, fish and
poultry production has been practiced for centuries in India. However, poultry production in
India has taken a quantum leap in the last four decades, emerging from an entirely
unorganized and unscientific farming practice (Free range) to a full-fledged commercial
enterprise/production system (Intensive floor/cages) with state-of-the-art technological
interventions as a result of research and development initiated by the Government and
subsequently taken up by the organized private sector.
Transformation:
Commercial poultry production in India is only 55 years old, although the poultry raising
dates back to pre-historic times. Hybrid layer strains were introduced into India in 1955 and
broiler strains in 1961. At present, the poultry industry is vibrant and self-reliant. In spite of
global melt down the Poultry Industry in India is growing and will continue to grow as the
billion odd population has just begin relishing the taste and importance of nutritional value of
chicken & eggs. One of the question which comes to our mind is how the transformation has
taken place from a free range farming system to a full-fledged commercial enterprise. It is
because of the following reasons:
• R&D initiatives by Central and State Governments – involved in development of new
strains/varieties of germplasms to increase the productivity of birds. Central and state
government institutions and also the private institutions all joined hands together to
initiate continuous research and development in developing different types of breeds,
improving the nutritive quality of the poultry feeds, designing different modern
poultry equipment and appliances including the poultry processing plants and
educating the mass about importance of poultry products in their diets.
• More emphasis by Indian Council of Agricultural Research - Central Avian Research
Institute (ICAR-CARI), Bareilly (UP); Directorate of Poultry Research (DPR),
Hyderabad (Telengana); State Agricultural Universities (SAUs); State Veterinary
Universities (SVUs) etc. – in conducting research, education and extension activities
to boost up the poultry sector in terms of trained manpower requirements,
introduction of new germplasm, providing inputs and capacity building of farmers and
entrepreneurs.
• Ultimate Users: Consumers, Farmers, Industries, Private Sectors – The ultimate
consumer’s preference/choices in the poultry products are also changing over the
time. More and more consumers are preferring processed poultry products, value
added poultry products, designer and specialty eggs (eg. Omega-3 eggs) and the
poultry industry is also trying to fulfill the needs of the new generation consumers.
Other by-products from poultry industry like feather, poultry manure also contribute
significantly. Farmers also opt for poultry farming as one of the occupation whether
as full time or part-time. Various industries are coming up taking up broiler meat and
egg production in a large scale for catering to the need of the country as well as
involved in export of the products to other countries.
SECTORS OF POULTRY INDUSTRY
• High yielding commercial germplasms – research and development activities by
research institutions for development of high yielding/fast growing germplasms to
boost the production of eggs and broiler meat.
• Breeding farms, Hatcheries – for production of fertile eggs, and disease free chicks
for supplying to the poultry farms
• Feed mills, Feed quality laboratories – for production and supply of good quality feed
to the poultry farms
• Poultry Housing and Farm appliances – for improving the productivity of the birds
and profitability of the farm
• Nutraceuticals, Pharmaceuticals and Vaccines - for improving the productivity of the
birds and prevent occurrence of diseases
• Poultry processing plants – for production of processed and value added poultry
products
• Poultry products development – research institutions are involved in development of
new ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat poultry products
• Disease diagnosis labs – for detection of poultry diseases
• Education and Training – for skill development and capacity building activities
which will have direct impact on the productivity of birds and profitability of the
farms.
• Banking and Insurance agencies for soft loans – for providing financial support to the
entrepreneurs in setting up poultry farms, processing plants and other related activities
in the poultry sector.
• Consultancy and Advisory – for improving the productivity of birds, profitability of
farm by suggesting modifications in housing, feeding, management and biosecurity
aspects.

SUMMARY
• Poultry production having big potential in India
• Involving more people to opt for poultry raising
• More R&D needed to bring advancements in all sectors
• Higher response by government and public sectors to overcome problems hampering
the growth of the industry
WEB RESOURCES
http://www.elearnvet.net/moodle/file.php/32/Articulate/1.Indian_poultry_industry/player.htm
l
http://ecoursesonline.iasri.res.in/course/view.php?id=326
www1.ximb.ac.in/users/fac/Niraj/niraj.nsf/.../$FILE/Poultry%20Industry-final.doc
http://agriexchange.apeda.gov.in/news/NewsSearch.aspx?newsid=22055
www.agrochart.com/en/news/.../india-poultry-and-poultry-products-annual-2016.html
http://www.indianmirror.com/indian-industries/poultry.html
http://www.pradan.net/images/news/pdfs/presentation_by_mr_anish_kumar_pradan.pdf
https://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Poultry%20and%20Poultry%20P
roducts%20Annual%202016_New%20Delhi_India_12-1-2016.pdf
http://www.fnbnews.com/Poultry/poultry-production-in-india--the-current-scenario-38620