Jammu and Kashmir Govt approves roadmap for poultry development

The Agriculture Production Department of Jammu and Kashmir has approved a 'Roadmap for poultry development in J&K' under its mission for Holistic Development of Agriculture and Allied Sectors in the Union Territory for the development of poultry industry in the state.

In order to put the poultry sector on the path of sustainability and self-reliance, the Agriculture Production Department of Jammu and Kashmir has approved a 'Roadmap for poultry development in J&K' under its mission for Holistic Development of Agriculture and Allied Sectors in the Union Territory. "Every year the Union Territory experiences a flight of capital on account of poultry imports in the state. The amount totals to Rs. 1273 crore per year. Among these, eggs account for Rs. 473 Cr, day-old chicks for Rs. 110 Cr, poultry feed worth Rs. 300 Cr and broiler birds for Rs. 390 Cr", said Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary APD.

The ACS said that this flight, however, can also be viewed as an opportunity for generating local enterprises and creating jobs for our educated youth for which various interventions under the project are being implemented. He added that a total of 420 enterprises and 4250 direct jobs are being created under this project over the next five years. 'Roadmap for poultry development in J&K' is one among the 29 projects approved by the Jammu and Kashmir administration after being recommended by the UT Level Apex Committee for holistic development of Agriculture and Allied Sectors.

The prestigious committee is headed by Dr Mangala Rai, Former DG ICAR and has other luminaries from the fields of Agriculture, Planning, Statistics & Administration like Ashok Dalwai, CEO NRAA; Dr P. K Joshi, Secretary, NAAS, Dr Prabhat Kumar, Horticulture Commissioner MOA & FW, Dr H. S Gupta, Former Director, IARI, Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, APD J&K, apart from the Vice Chancellors of the twin Agriculture Universities of the UT. The project is expected to transform the Agriculture sector of Jammu and Kashmir with a specific focus on the poultry industry also. "The project encompasses all three verticals in the poultry industry including producing day-old broiler chicken to feed the broiler industry, establishing layer farms in intensive and free-range mode to meet the demands for eggs and boosting quality feed manufacture through the establishment of feed processing units," said Dr Azmat Alam Khan, Professor of Poultry Sciences at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir.

Currently, the UT imports 440 lakh day-old chicks every year worth Rs 110 crores. The birds are transported for over two days which creates stress and decreases their productivity. This takes toll on the economy of the farmer too who has to spend more to counter this stress, thus increasing his cost of production and reducing the competitiveness of his produce, said the APD department of Jammu and Kashmir in a statement. To overcome this, 125 parent breeding farms (each 3000-parent capacity), with hatcheries and in-house feed manufacturing plants will be established within a span of five years each having a production capacity of 4 lakh day-old chicks. This would facilitate achieving self-sufficiency in day-old chicks within a span of five years, the statement added.

According to the Agriculture Production Department of Jammu and Kashmir, the UT spends Rs. 473 crores on the import of eggs annually. These eggs again are imported and on average reach J&K after 15-30 days of being laid. Eggs are an important source of nutrition for all age groups especially children and freshness is the most important component when evaluating the quality of an egg. Under the project 200-layer farms, each with 10000 bird capacities are being established to produce 60 crore eggs within a span of five years. In addition, backyard and free-range poultry farming has also been covered under various incentives for which inputs are being provided through the establishment of 66 Mother Units, each of 1000 parent stock. These mother units shall provide birds to more than 2000 free-range farms housing 500 birds each, said the APD department. (ANI)

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