Agri deptt approves roadmap for poultry development in J&K

Srinagar, Jan 09: The Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture Production Department has approved a roadmap for poultry development under mission for Holistic Development of Agriculture, Allied Sectors.
Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary) Agriculture Production Department Atal Dulloo said the roadmap aims to put the poultry sector on path of sustainability and self-reliance.
“Every year the UT experiences a flight of capital on account of poultry imports to the tune of Rs 1273 cr. Among these table eggs account for Rs 473 cr, day old chicks for Rs 110 cr, poultry feed worth Rs 300 cr and broiler birds for Rs 390 cr,” he said.
Dulloo said this also provides an opportunity for generating local enterprises and creating jobs for youth for which various interventions are being implemented under the project. “A total of 420 enterprises and 4250 direct jobs are being created under this project over the next five years,” he said.
Dulloo said that roadmap for poultry development in J&K is part of the 29 projects, which were approved by Jammu and Kashmir administration after being recommended by the UT Level Apex Committee for holistic development of agriculture and allied sectors in J&K.
“The project encompasses all three verticals in poultry industry including producing day-old broiler chicken to feed broiler industry, establishing layer farms in intensive and free-range mode to meet the demands for eggs and boost quality feed manufacture through establishment of feed processing units,” he said.
The ACS said currently, J&K imports 440 lakh day old chicks every year worth Rs 110 cr. The birds are transported for over two days which creates stress and decreases their productivity.
This takes toll on the economy of the farmer too who has to spend more to counter this stress, thus increasing his cost of production and reducing competitiveness of his produce.
“To overcome this 125 parent breeding farms (each 3000-parent capacity), with hatcheries and in-house feed manufacturing plants will be established within a span of five years each having a production capacity of 4 lakh day old chicks. This would facilitate in achieving self-sufficiency in day old chicks within a span of five years. The commercial broiler farmers shall get stress-free chicks at competitive rates and improve their profitability,” he said.
Similarly, the UT spends Rs 473 cr on import of table eggs annually. These eggs again are imported from far and wide and on average reach J&K after 15-30 days of being laid.
“Eggs are an important source of nutrition for all age groups especially children and freshness is the most important component when evaluating the quality of an egg. Under the project 200-layer farms, each of 10000 bird capacity are being established to produce 60 crore eggs within a span of five years,” he said.
In addition, backyard and free range poultry farming has also been covered under various incentives for which inputs are being provided through the establishment of 66 Mother Units, each of 1000 parent stock.
Dulloo said these mother units would provide birds to more than 2000 free-range farms housing 500 birds each.
One of the main challenges facing poultry farmers in Jammu and Kashmir is the high cost of feed, which can make production expensive.
“To address this issue, the approved project has put a target of producing 85000 MT of poultry feed within five years by establishing 35 units (7 feed units per year) of 1 ton per hour capacity,” he said.
Apart from this the APD has implemented measures to increase the production of feed locally, including promoting the cultivation of maize and other feed crops under other projects.
“All these interventions would boost the gross output of poultry sector in J&K from Rs 709 cr to Rs 1982 cr per year and ensure that the poultry industry is well-positioned for continued growth and development in the coming years,” Dulloo said.