Rajiv Gandhi Institute Opens Poultry Feed, Hatchery Unit
INDIA - In order to provide farmers with the proper diet for their poultry, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Veterinary Education and Research (RGIVER) has started a new poultry and hatchery unit at Kurumbapet, Puducerry (formerly known as Pondicherry).
3 June 2015
3 minute read
By: The new unit was inaugurated by chief minister of Puducerry Thiru. N Rangasamy recently.
The unit was built with an assistance of $140,000 (Rs 85 lakh) from the centrally sponsored scheme on Poultry Development Assistance to State Poultry Farms (CSSPF).
The plant is expected to roll out five to six tonnes of poultry feed on a eight hours shift. The plant will have a feed grinder, feed mixer, motor control centre and other equipment.
The poultry produce will be rolled out in a 250 kgs bags each that will be send across the place in Puducerry and from there it will be sold on loose to farmers as per their requirements.
While speaking at the launch, the chief minister called educated youth to come forward and set up poultry and dairy farms.
Another objective of the scheme at the new unit is to establish parent stock of the Giriraja breed and a hatchery, to supply chicks of this dual purpose breed of chicken to small rural farmers for backyard poultry farming.
The scheme also provides a venue for giving training to farmers on poultry rearing and how they can maximize return of providing proper diet to in the poultry farm.
By supplying poultry feed to the farmers, the institute hopes to help motivate the small farmers to take up poultry farming, and provide a sustainable income through sale of egg and chicken meat. In addition, consumption of meat and egg will improve among the rural people resulting in the increase of protein consumption.
Currently, cattle and poultry feed for the Puducherry region is partly produced locally and partly imported from outside the region.
In order to fully meet the growing needs of animal feed in the region and the new, intensive poultry programmes envisaged, an Animal Feed Manufacturing plant is proposed. It will produce both cattle and poultry feeds, for which necessary machinery and accessories are to be installed in a central place in the Puducherry region.
India’s poultry sector is a large industry - the current estimate places the industry at around $9.15 billion, which is expected to grow into double digits in the coming fiscal year.
