Karnal Poultry Farms Adding to City's Economy
HARYANA, INDIA - Kadaknath, Aseel and Brahma that may sound like names of Indian gods are Indian poultry breeds being reared by Karnal villagers without any investment. On the other hand, a rough estimate shows that this backyard poultry farm generates a revenue of around Rs 9-9.5 billion in the city.Neeraj Dahiya, a villager from Taraori who breeds poultry in his backyard explained, "We keep around 20 chickens with one or two cockerels. It gives us around 7-8 eggs per day, which is sold in the weekly haats (local market) for around Rs 6 a piece."
"By selling these eggs in the local market we fetch approximately Rs 1,350 per month. Apart from this, we sell around 2-3 roosters and chickens, which costs almost double of broiler chickens. This helps us to earn about Rs 2,000-2,200 per month," he said.
Sultan Singh from Nilokheri in Karnal said, "Investment is almost zero as chicken's feed usually comprises of kitchen waste. The only investment is in the making of its cage after getting these birds of morrow or domestication."
Briefing about the construction of cages used for breeding, Mr Singh said, "These cages are generally three-storied where each floor can accommodate nearly 10-12 chickens. One floor is used for keeping the crowing hen to sit on the egg and conceive chicks." Each cage costs around Rs 500-750.
"There are around 400 villages in Karnal and in one village about 10-12 families are practicing this kind of poultry farming," said Dr MS Tantiya, principal scientist at the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR). "If we calculate the figures, the average revenue generated through backyard breeding of chickens comes around Rs 9-9.5 billion per annum," he explained.
Dr Tantiya further added that the villagers of Karnal are not just generating revenue but they are taking forward NBAGR's initiative to save the Indian poultry breeds, which are on the verge of extinction due to the emergence of poultry farming of broilers.
According to The Economic Times, he said that India poultry breeds like Kadaknath, Aseel and Brahma are still visible in Karnal because of business generated.
Poultry farmers in Karnal have started using high quality semen from NBAGR to get a high yielding variety of chickens at their home.
Mr Singh of Nilokheri said, "The high quality semen from NBAGR costs around Rs 10-20 per dose and we use approximately 10-12 doses in a year." He said this helps chicken to conceive chicks of high yielding variety and it grows faster than local breeds.
However, he also added that farmers opting for NBAGR's semen dose are very few. According to him, an awareness programme by NBAGR would act as a booster dose for the poultry economy in the region.