Current Aspects of Indian Poultry Meat Industry

Current Aspects of Indian Poultry Meat Industry

Mukul¹, Akash Bhuva¹, and S. Talukder²

¹Division of Veterinary Public health and Epidemiology, ICAR-IVRI, Bareilly (UP)

²Division of Livestock Products Technology, ICAR-IVRI, ICAR-IVRI, Bareilly (UP)

Introduction

Poultry industry in India has made considerable growth during last few decades and successfully transformed itself from the age-old backyard farming into a dynamic agri-based industry. Its development is not only been in size but also in productivity, sophistication and quality. High yielding  broiler (2.4-2.6 kg at 6 weeks) varieties together with standardized package of practices on nutrition, housing and management, and disease control have contributed to spectacular growth rates in broiler production (8-10% per annum) in India during last three decades .

India produced 9.29 million tonnes of meat and chicken contributed majority of this production (DAHD, 2022). About 4.2 million tons of poultry meat is produced in India in 2022. The popularity of poultry meat is on the rise during the last two decades. It is presently accounting for about 45% of the total meat consumed and is the most popular meat from any single livestock species. Chicken dominates the poultry meat production in India. Other species like ducks, turkeys, guinea fowls, ostriches, emus etc. are reared only in small numbers in areas having specific market demand. Haryana, West Bengal & Uttar Pradesh are the leaders in poultry meat production in our country. Poultry is a highly vertically integrated industry in India and matches the efficiency levels of many western countries. Government of India has taken steps for modernization of municipal abattoirs to provide safe and hygienic meat to consumers.

Poultry production system

The rapid expansion of poultry production has been associated with technological change and increasing scale of production units. More specifically, the development has involved a switch in emphasis from traditional small-scale production using dual-purpose indigenous breeds to intensive commercial production systems using hybrid birds specially bred either for meat or eggs. Poultry production sector is divided into four categories those are a) Backyard production consisting of few hundreds of birds, maintained in extensive system under zero to low input venture with very less contribution in market, b) Commercial poultry production with low biosecurity (10000 to 20000 birds), c) Large scale commercial with high biosecurity (50000 to 1 lakh birds), d) Industrial and integrated production (more than 1 lakh birds).Increasing commercialization is associated with increased segmentation of different stages in the value chain from input supply through to retail delivery of the product. Although formal biosecurity may be higher in industrial/commercial systems, the greater bird population density may increase the probability of infection and the scale of disease outbreaks that occur in these concentrated production systems. Increasing concentration of production is also associated with problems of waste disposal and soil, air and water pollution. Within each sector there is a great deal of variation between individual types of production system and value chains.

Table 1 Changes in poultry production in India

(20th Livestock Census – Vikaspedia)

Poultry feeding resources

Feeding resources are the one of the biggest constraint in Indian poultry industry mainly due to its price and economic point of view. Success of poultry production rests primarily on the quality of the bird employed, comforting environment and provision for good feed, the last being most expensive of all other inputs, deserves befitting attention. Feed accounts for 65-70% of the total broiler production cost. The boiler industry has been considered the strongest driver behind the development of feed industry in India, benefiting largely from the presence of integrators (70 % of total industry) and a shorter production cycle. This has brought in feed based efficiencies and rationalization in the industry. The 90 % of the broiler chicken industry uses compound feed. In backyard poultry farming the feed cost is considered to be minimum, because, the birds are let loose for scavenging in the open yard and collect the required protein, energy, minerals and vitamins etc. from insects, snail, termites, seeds of grasses and weeds, leftover grains, crop residues and household wastes.  Maize is the popular cereal used in combination with protein meal like soybean meal which generally determines the cost of compounded feed. In view of the large gap between the demand and availability of feedstuffs for poultry production, a holistic approach is needed to meet the demand of ever growing poultry industry.

Commonly used poultry breeds in India

There are several breeds of chickens that are commonly used for meat production in our country, including, Kadaknath, Aseel, Vanaraja (cross between Rhode Island Red and Kadaknath breeds), Gramapriya (cross between Rhode Island Red and Kadaknath breed),Cobb breed, Cornish cross (cross between Cornish and Plymouth rock), etc. Some other improved backyard varieties are Kuroiler,Rainbow rooster, etc.

Some of the popular turkey breeds reared in our country are, Broad breasted bronze, Broad breasted white, Beltsville small white, Nandanam Turkey-1, etc.

Commonly preferred breeds of ducks are, Aylesbury, Muscovy, and Rouen, Cayuga, Buff, Sweedish breeds, etc.

Preference of poultry meat and Indian consumer

Poultry meat is a good source of high quality protein, vitamins, especially B vitamins (B₁₂, niacin)and minerals, such as iron, selenium, zinc. It has several advantages as higher content of desirable monounsaturated fats, and least saturated fats. Whereas the red meat contains higher amount of saturated fats, and this contributes to the healthy nature of the meat. Chicken meat does not contain the trans-fats that contribute to coronary heart disease. Poultry meat is important source of the essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), especially the Omega (n)-3 fatty acids. The poultry meat can be enriched with several of the important dietary nutrients like Selenium whose deficiency is becoming more widespread in humans because soils are becoming depleted and the foods grown on them are therefore lower in selenium.The economic nature and the easy availability of the poultry meat has made this as the choicest meat species among Indian consumers.

In India, the consumption of poultry meat has increased significantly over the years. Poultry meat, including chicken and turkey, has become an increasingly popular source of animal protein for consumers due to its affordability, convenience, and versatility.

Table 2 Poultry meat consumption in India

(https://www.statista.com)

The attitude of Indian consumers towards poultry meat consumption is very much positive. Chicken is the most commonly consumed type of poultry meat in India, and it is widely available in many forms, including fresh, frozen, and processed. The demand for poultry meat is driven by various factors such as changing dietary habits, increasing awareness about the nutritional benefits of chicken, and the influence of western food culture. Poultry Meat consumption in particular is determined by the religions where pork is forbidden to Muslims and beef is prohibited to Hindus, which makes poultry meat highly consumed due to its religious acceptance. This is due to the increased demand from consumers with higher incomes and the perceptions that poultry meat is healthier than other meats. However, there are some concerns among Indian consumers regarding the safety and quality of poultry meat. In recent years, there have been reports of adulteration and the use of antibiotics in poultry farming, which has raised concerns about the potential health risks associated with consuming poultry meat. As a result, there is an increasing demand for organic and antibiotic-free poultry meat among health-conscious consumers. In general, the consumption of poultry meat is expected to continue to grow in the future, although there may be a shift towards more sustainable and healthy options.

Bottleneck in poultry meat production

Poultry immunity, health, production and feeding resources are the several factors that challenge the future growth of the poultry industry in our country. Consumer confidence, product quality and safety, types of products, and the emergence and re-emergence of diseases will continue to be the major challenges to the current situation and the strategic future of the industry. Food borne and zoonotic diseases are strictly linked with poultry meat consumption, therefore is burning concern as well. Eradication, elimination, and/or control of food borne and zoonotic pathogens present a major challenge to the Indian poultry industry. In addition, the public health hazards from consuming chicken with high antibiotic residues will remain a critical issue until solution obtained.

Conclusions

Despite of several challenges in the past, India continues to exhibit spectacular growth in poultry industry. With increasing demand for poultry meat, the poultry production in India foresees further expansion and industrialization. At present there is overall 16.81 % growth in poultry meat industry since 2012, especially in backyard poultry with overall increase in population of 45.78 %.There is overall increase in the consumption of poultry meat by 675.2 thousand metric tons. Gross value added from poultry meat in India was1,444.99 billion in 2021. Consistent with increase in poultry meat productivity, the annual per capita availability has also increased to 3.2 Kg of meat. However, it is far below the recommended consumption of 10.8 Kg poultry meat per person per annum recorded by the Nutritional Advisory Committee and ICMR. In the country like India to meet the nutritional requirement, the poultry meat industry has to grow several folds. Adoption of small scale poultry farming in backyards of rural households will enhance the nutritional and economic status of the rural people. With the continuous growth in poultry meat production the future challenges will not be a hindrance for our country and thus a bright future for poultry meat industry in India is assured.

References:

Singh, R. (2019). Status of poultry production in India. Pashudhan Prahari.

Chatterjee, R. N., and Rajkumar, U. (2015). An overview of poultry production in India. Indian Journal of Animal Health, 54(2), 89-108.

National action plan for egg & poultry (2022). Department of animal husdandary, dairying & fisheries. Ministry of agriculture& farmers welfare government of India, https://www.dahd.nic.in.

Tekam, D., Sonawane, N., Bhanotra, A., and Sawant, M. (2019). Doubling of Farmers Income through Animal Husbandry by 2022. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 8(2), 3246-3245.

Singh, A. (2020). Livestock production statistics of India—2019. Originally uploaded at www. vetextension. com and updated till, 9, 19.

FAO. (2021). FAO statistical yearbook: World food and agriculture. FAO.

IMARC. (2021). India poultry market: Industry trends, share, size, growth, opportunity and forecast 2022–2027.https://www.imarcgroup.com/indian-poultry-market.

20^th livestock census.https://www.dahd.nic.in.

Consumption of poultry meat in India 2013-2022, https://www.statista.com › statistics. Consumption of poultry meat in India 2013-2022.

Current Update of Demand And Supply In Indian Poultry Sector: An Overview

Please follow and like us: