India’s poultry industry needs greater government support

The Indian poultry sector is keen to invest and modernize but it wants to do so with financial support from the government.

As the role of India’s markets changes, there is a greater need for food safety and hygiene training. | Priya darshan | iStock.com
As the role of India’s markets changes, there is a greater need for food safety and hygiene training. | Priya darshan | iStock.com
Getty Images

Having dealt with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian poultry industry is now focusing on modernization, including greater automation at farm level and the adoption of more stringent biosecurity measure, but it needs greater government support.

There is an urgent need for farmers to follow biosecurity norms and the industry, working with both central and local governments, should chart out and implement stringent biosecurity controls at farm level.  

Multiple issues

Improving biosecurity, however, is not the only issue facing the industry.

With rising labor costs, there is now a greater need for farmers to adopt more automation. With the adoption of greater automation, issues such as staff shortages, or feed waste, for example, could be reduced.

Yet, implementing hygiene standards and adopting new food safety regulations in an industry that is not always making a profit, poses challenges and the government must step in to give greater support to farmers. Its RS15,000 crore (US$2.1 billion) Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Fund, announced in June 2020, should be extended to help farmers adopt automation.

But it is not only structural support that needs to take place; more immediate support is needed as broiler and egg production is also becoming more expensive due to rising feed costs.

The government must ensure the availability of raw feed materials, either by suspending exports for a few months, or by allowing imports of feed ingredients at zero duty during the shortage to ensure that producers remain economically viable.

Training

There are various areas that need to change, from farm through to retail.

The industry wants to invest and is ready to do so from a position of optimism. The growing demand in online sales and home delivery due to local COVID-19 lockdowns are good indicators for future growth.

Greater food safety training for those engaged in online sales and for those working from wet markets and engaged in carry out and home delivery of meat products would contribute significantly to sustaining this growth.

Wet markets, which remain a significant channel for broiler meat distribution and sales, have witnessed a major shift as consumers opt for home delivery, and this is expected to continue over coming months, facilitating consumption.

However, wet markets must invest in training and equipment to ensure that broiler meat deliveries are safe and hygienic.

Around 50 million people are associated with and central to the poultry production value chain, including trade, feed manufacturing, agricultural corps, and logistics and farmers.

In realizing the government’s aim of doubling farmers’ income by 2022, livestock will play a key role and the government must provide support to the sector. The government must provide financial and technological support to the livestock sector, and to the poultry sector in particular.

Page 1 of 37
Next Page