Modernization of Poultary Farming
Posted by Unknown in Pakistan, Poultry Farming on Friday, 25 January 2013
Every
community in the world is responsible to provide its residents adequate
food and guarantee them freedom from hunger and malnutrition.
It
becomes especially important when about 15-20 per cent of the world
population is still unable to obtain sufficient food to meet minimum
nutritional requirements for a healthy and productive life.
The
current poor nutritional status is due to lack of sufficient energy and
protein in the food. A balanced diet is essential for good health,
vigour and productive capacity of the people. Protein plays an important
role in the formation of balanced human diet. There are mainly two
origins of proteins, animal and plant.
The
human diet in Pakistan is deficient with respect to proteins of animal
origin. At present 66 per cent of the people are deficient in protein.
The requirement of protein is 102.7 gram per head per day while the
available protein is 69.61 gram per head per day. The gap in requirement
of protein is 33.09 gram. The main source of animal protein is beef,
mutton, milk, poultry meat and eggs.
In
developing countries like Pakistan where the population is growing at a
faster rate, the gap in production of food especially of animal origin
is widening year after year.
The
animal protein shortage seems still more grave especially when it is
compared with the protein intake of various developed countries like
U.S.A., Canada, Germany, France, Japan and U.K., where consumption of
protein is 79-95 gram per capita per day of which 46-65 gram is protein
of vegetable origin.
The
nutrition dilemma demands a special focus to overcome the existing
deficiencies with particular reference to protein deficiency and
availability from animal source.
To
overcome the animal protein gap, poultry meat seems to offer much
better prospects. It is capable of providing protein in terms of quality
and can narrow the animal protein supply gap in minimum possible time
as compared to other sources of animal protein.
Until
1964, poultry production was a cottage industry in Pakistan. The
management and production on modern scientific lines was not known and
disease control measures were also not sufficient.
In
1964, PIA shaver laid the foundation of commercial poultry production
by introducing new and improved breeds of layers and broilers and by
Lever Brothers with production of poultry feed on modern lines.
Government
on her part, exempted this industry from income tax and sales tax,
allowed export of table eggs, day old chicks and broiler on subsidized
rates. Poultry production now has emerged as a good substitute of beef
and mutton.
This
table shows that poultry is developing in our country in spite of
problems this industry is facing. However, along with this expansion,
the poultry raisers lament the low economic returns on their products
and consumers in street protest against high cost of poultry which is
due to high marketing margin.
The
poultry industry faces problems like the incidence of diseases,
substandard and costly feed and inefficient marketing system. In all
stages of development, there is a need for improving the efficiency and
lowering the cost of distribution.
An
economical marketing system can help the producers sell their products
at reasonable prices and the consumers to buy their needs at minimum
cost. If we want to survive in post-WTO scenario, we should give
emphasis on quality and price. In a competitive environment only those
products will be accepted by consumers which are of good quality and are
also available at reasonable price.
Losses
occur in case of death of birds due to diseases and poor handling.
Grading is largely ignored in egg trade because of extra cost required
for grading. Transportation is the most important component of marketing
system. In economic sense, transportation means the moving of goods
from surplus production areas to deficient areas.
For
marketing of eggs and birds, the commission agents and retailers use
various means of transportation to take produce to the market. Bicycle,
motorcycle, wagons and donkey carts are being used for transportation.
The
higher losses during transportation are due to longer distance, bumpy
roads and lack of modern packing techniques. Poultry farmers don't get
fair returns. They put a lot of effort in increasing and developing
their business but the commission agents usually get the produce from
them at low prices and earn a lot of profit by selling at a higher
price.
Poultry
farmers should do their job both as producer as well as commission
agents. So, they can earn more profit out of their business. To improve
the present marketing system of poultry, following suggestions may be
helpful:
• To curtail breakage losses, packing and distribution system should be modernized
• Government should take immediate steps to improve the roads, for timely and quickly delivery of produce.
•
To enhance economic viability of the poultry industry, the prices of
feed and medicines should be kept within reasonable limits.
•
Poultry coordination boards should be established at federal as well as
provincial level to stabilize and maintain quality prices.
•
Lack of grading at farm level dos not promote the quality of eggs at a
price premium. So practice of grading at producer's level would be
encouraged and price information on the basis of grades and standards
should be regularly collected and disseminated.
•
Inadequate health facilities are one of the major constraints in
poultry production. It is due to viral, bacterial infection and
parasitic infestation. For this, a long run vaccination and de-worming
campaign policy should be started at national level.
•
Government should construct veterinary laboratory for drug residue
testing in the poultry products. This will ensure quality in exported
products.
• Steps should be taken to improve sanitary and hygienic conditions of birds casing processing units.
The Dawn
