Indbro Traces Development of Indian Broiler Industry
INDIA - There was almost no broiler industry in the country before 1970; Indbro offers an overview of its rapid development over the last four decades.
6 February 2012
4 minute read
Broiler was a non entity in India before 1970, according to Indbro. The male layer chicks were reared for meat purpose and spent layer hens and native fowls filled the gap. Most of the chicken was consumed as spice supplemented "chicken curry" or roaster "tanduri". There is no religious taboo in chicken consumption.
Poultry production is part of agricultural activity in India and most of the poultry producers are farmers.
In India, hatcheries provide the direction and necessary inputs to the broiler producer, not the feed millers.
Broiler grandparent stocks from US and Europe were introduced in 1968. The parent stock holders invariably had hatcheries who hatched the chicks and sold to the farmers.
Farmers buy chicks from hatcheries and feed from feed mills.
Many farmers make their own mash feed with simple grinding & mixing machines.
Many farmers buy "poultry concentrate", i.e. everything other than grain, and add ground maize (grain portion).
Indian is self-sufficient in maize and soya, as well as exporting these two commodities.
Integrated broiler production started during 2000 and is growing.
Contract farming is the most commonly accepted practice. The company pays based on units of production (for house, labour and energy). Incentives for production efficiency are given.
There are three pure line breeding companies and one GGP unit in India.
Import of breeding stocks is permitted but the country breeds 75 per cent of the birds for the market.
There are about 1,000 broiler breeding farms, 70oer cent of which are located in the csouth of the country.
There are about 500,000 broiler growers.
Most birds are sold live. An average marketing unit sells fewer than 100 birds per day.
There is no cold chain.
India does not vaccinate against bird flu but has adopted a stamping out policy when H5N1 is reported.
India also has four vaccine production units. Imports of vaccines are restricted.
| 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broiler parent stocks (millions) | 0.5 | 1.5 | 5.0 | 15 | 25 | 35 |
| Commercial broiler chicks (millions) | 50 | 180 | 650 | 2,100 | 3,000 | 5,000 |
| Cage breeding of parents | 0 | 0 | 25% | 60% | 90% | 95% |
| Produced by companies (Integration) | 0 | 0 | 10% | 30% | 50% | 70% |
| Farmers buying chicks | 100% | 100% | 90% | 70% | 50% | 30% |
| Dressing plants | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| Average size of the broiler farm | 500 | 2,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 20,000 |
| % broilers dressed | 0 | 1% | 3% | 5% | 7% | 10% |
| Average weight of broilers at slaughter | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.0 |
| No. of days to slaughter | 60 | 50 | 48 | 45 | 42 | 38 |
| Feed conversion ratio (FCR) | 3.0 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.6 |
| Processed broiler feed | 0.0 | 0.0 | 10% | 30% | 50% | 70% |
| Bell drinkers | 0.0 | 20% | 60% | 80% | 80% | 70% |
| Nipple drinkers | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5% | 10% | 15% | 25% |
| Controlled broiler houses | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5% | 5% | 6% | 8% |
| Per–capita production (kg/head) | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
