Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
INTRODUCTION: Odisha is the eighth largest producer of poultry egg in the Country. As per available statistics, there are 62 poultry layer farms in the state with total bird strength of 40.5 lakhs layer birds representing around 2.5 percent of the Country’s layer population. There are about 5000 commercial broiler farms in operation with bird capacity of around 86 lakh. In the state broiler placement is around 20-25 lakh day-old-chick (DOC) per week and around 18-23 lakh adult broiler birds per week are entering into the market for meat purpose. As per the recommendations of Indian Nutritional Academy, Hyderabad, there should be consumption of 182 eggs per head per annum. At the national level 56 eggs per person are consumed annually while the state average is 55 eggs per person annually. The State is more or less self sufficient in broiler production as per the estimated demand. Backyard Poultry has been widely accepted by the rural poor due to low investment in terms of infrastructure. Poultry thus provides supplementary income to small and landless farmers and is taken care of by the family, especially the women folk. 1.1. Performance of Poultry Sector: The poultry sector in the State is divided into traditional and commercial production systems. The rural-based traditional system contributes 60% of the total poultry population and supplies most of the poultry meat and eggs consumed in rural areas. It also supplies about 10% of the poultry products in urban and peri-urban areas, where commercial production is largely practiced. Between 2007 and 2012, egg production increased from 25 lakhs to 34 lakhs per day. The increase was associated with establishment of some new large-scale commercial 2 layer farms. The per capita availability of eggs also increased from 36 to 55 eggs per person per annum in the same period. Similarly, Broiler farming in the State has taken a quantum leap in the last three decades. Presently, about 5000 broiler farms are in operation with Commercial Broiler Bird Strength of 86 lakhs. It has created indirect employment for a large number of skilled and semi-skilled workers for farm management, marketing of inputs and poultry products, etc. Odisha is one of the leading State to have declared Poultry as Agriculture and initiated many promotional efforts such as (1) Reduction of electricity tariff for poultry farming, (2) Reimbursement of VAT on Maize and broken rice used for poultry feed, (3) Supply of egg in mid day meal scheme at primary schools. The conducive agro-climatic condition, lower land prices and less variation in seasonal climates is suitable for investors for poultry farming. Broiler farming in the State has taken a leap in the last three decades, but the growth in layer sector in the State is not up to the desired level. There is a need to prioritize commercial layer poultry development in the State, as egg production of the State at present is 34 lakh per day, while the consumption is 65 lakh per day. The difference is met by importing eggs from Andhra Pradesh. Considering the critical gap between production, requirement and procurement of egg from other states, it is essential to augment the egg production. The increase in egg production of the State not only will eradicate the protein hunger of the State but also can create huge employment opportunities for people. The scope in this sector is enormous. It would be possible to meet the above requirements through production of 100 lakh eggs per day within the State itself through entrepreneurship development. The technology developments are essential to achieve enhanced production potential in backyard poultry. 1.2. Issues and Challenges: Un-employment and under-employment in rural areas is a matter of concern. There is an urgent need to increase the avenues of employment in rural areas through agro-based rural industrialization. Commercial Poultry Farming can bring avenues for employment in the State. Poultry farming being a high cost intensive project coupled with high risk such as vagaries of Nature, Bird flu, etc., some policy decisions are needed for providing fiscal incentives to the poultry entrepreneurs. 3 Availability of Foundation Parent-stock Poultry birds for production of hatching eggs is a great concern. Suitable strategy will be made in consultation with Government of India to ensure availability of parent stock chicks. Availability of dual purpose Day-old-chick at an affordable price is critical for productivity enhancement through backyard poultry farming. As per the recommendations by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the dual purpose parent stock poultry breeds will be maintained at State owned Poultry Breeding farms for supply of chicks to the farmers for backyard poultry. Under SGSY Infrastructure Development Fund, 48 District poultry hatcheries have been established. Some of these Hatcheries will be made functional by Department for producing day-old-chicks of dual purpose poultry breed suitable for backyard farming and the rest Hatcheries will run through Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode. Central Poultry Development Organisation, Bhubaneswar will collaborate for ensuring regularity in supply of Hatching eggs/ Parent Stock day-old-chicks required for the State Govt. Poultry Farms and Hatcheries. State Duck Breeding Farm will continue to maintain the parent stock duck breeds such as Khaki Campbell, White Pekin for promoting Duck farming. Other avian species such as Japanese Quail can also be promoted in the State. The linkage between Research - Extension – Farmer is not adequate. Strong extension effort needs to be taken up to reduce the gap between Research and Extension. The Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) should undertake some field oriented Research activities such as use of alternate feed for backyard Poultry farming, Production performance and economics of production of dual purpose breeds should be taken up. Under National Livestock Mission such activities will be taken up. Availability of hygienic poultry meat for consumer is a concern as there are inadequate modern processing facilities available in the State. Under National Mission for Food Processing Policy, 25% of the cost of Plant & machinery and technical civil works, subject to a maximum of Rs. 50 lakhs is available as subsidy for establishment of poultry processing unit. All organizations such as Govt./ Public Sector Units/ Joint Ventures/ Non-Government Organisations/ Cooperatives/ Self Help Groups/ Private Sector/ Individuals can avail the financial assistance. Fiscal incentives are also available for establishment of big poultry processing industry under the Odisha Food Processing Policy. Such schemes will be popularized in 4 order to create a marketing chain and ensure food safety as per the Food Safety Standard Act, 2006 and cater to public health concerns as a whole. Poultry manure poses a major environmental problem. Initial support to farmers for using Poultry manure as a source of bio-fuel and organic fertilizer in the crop field will be provided, which will have a demonstrative effect in future. Avian Influenza outbreak has time and again caused serious setback to the poultry industry. All commercial farms will adhere to bio-security measures and Disease surveillance will be strengthened to keep a watch over backyard poultry. Routine vaccination, de-worming of poultry reared in backyard condition will be carried out. Community level Vaccinators will be trained for vaccination and de-worming of the poultry birds. Proper Institutional structure for administrative coordination at District and State level need to be set up for quick disposal of pending issues for entrepreneurship development in poultry sector. The State level and District level Executive Committee constituted for implementation of National Livestock Mission has a mandate to oversee the Mission implementation, where Poultry Development is a component. There are many indigenous poultry germ-plasm available in the State. Efforts will be made to improve and conserve these breeds. One or two farms can be dedicated for ex-situ conservation of native germ-plasm.