Polish firm launches liquid feed additives for poultry

Vetphage Pharmaceuticals, the domestic arm of the Polish biotechnology company Proteon Pharmaceuticals Group, Wednesday launched two liquid feeds for the poultry industry. The new liquid feeds-Bafasal and Bafasal+G are developed with a technology that uses 'bacteriophages' as a preventative antibacterial solution to improve animal and human health, the company said, adding while Bafasal is for the broiler industry and the other is for breeders and layers.

These feed additives protect chickens from pathogenic bacteria apart from gradually minimising antibiotic usage. They will also help treat the salmonella infection," Vetphage managing director Bhusan Bhavsar told PTI.

India is the third-largest egg producer in the world after China and the US and the fourth-largest chicken producer after China, Brazil and the US, he said. Over the years, per capita consumption of eggs in the country has more than doubled from 30 per to 68 eggs per annum, and that of chicken from 400 gms to 2.5 kg per annum between 2012 and 2017.

Vetphage introduced these two solutions on a pilot basis a few months ago in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telengana, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, MP, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Haryana. "We are planning to go pan-India in next three years," he said, adding and has also launched them in Bangladesh and is planning to take it to Asia Pacific.

"We are planning to take these products to all the 29 countries in the Asia Pacific and will begin with Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Indonesia," he said..