Roadmap for poultry
For the increase in the poultry production, J&K administration is trying to put the poultry sector in its priority list.
Roadmap for poultry development in J&K’ is one among the 29 projects approved by the Jammu and Kashmir administration after being recommended by the UT Level Apex Committee for holistic development of Agriculture and Allied Sectors in UT.
The project is expected to transform the Agriculture sector of Jammu and Kashmir with specific focus on poultry industry also. “The project encompasses all the three verticals in the poultry industry including producing day-old broiler chicken to feed the 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.
Currently the UT imports 440 lakh day old chicks every year worth Rs 110 crores. The birds are transported for over two days which creates stress and decreases their productivity. This takes a 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.
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 project has set a target of producing 85000 Metric Tons of poultry feed within a span of five years by establishing 35 units (7 feed units per year) of 1 ton per hour capacity. 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.
