Leading Indian agricultural company Royal Agro Farm is expanding into poultry production for the first time.
The company is launching its entry into the poultry industry with the construction of a new hatchery facility, as well as breeder growing facilities and breeding farms. Those operations are bring planned for a 400-acre site in Udumalpet, Tamil Nadu.
The entire facility is expected to be operation in August.
Agreement with Pas Reform
The company has entered into an agreement with Pas Reform to equip the new hatchery with SmartPro technologies.
“We knew about the engineering capability of the Pas Reform group and we have been in close contact with them to plan the hatchery layout and make technical project calculations, to ensure we can both optimise incubation conditions and maximise chick quality,” Royal Agro Farm CEO and owner M.S. Sunther said in a press release issued by Pas Reform.
The project comprises a first phase of 400,000 day-old broilers per week divided over four hatches. It entails 12 SmartSetPro setters, each with a capacity of 124,416 hatching eggs, and 12 SmartHatchPro hatchers, each with a capacity of 20,736 hatching eggs.
This fully integrated hatchery project also includes climate control and automation systems. The heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system has been tailored to specification by Pas Reform engineers, and it includes air handling units, air ducting, pressure controls and temperature controls. Royal Agro Farm has also chosen to significantly automate the incubation process, with automatic candling and transfer systems and an automated chick-counting system.
Venkitakrishnan Natarajan, head of Pas Reform’s sales and service center in Tamil Nadu, said “The poultry market in India was difficult for several years, resulting in lower than average company returns. More recently, however, the market has recovered as poultry consumption has increased – particularly in Tamil Nadu and nearby Kerala. Tamil Nadu’s producers now have an excellent opportunity to grow their business.”
