Diverse Oppurtunities in Poultry Production

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DIVERSE OPPURTUNITIES IN POULTRY PRODUCTION Azmat Alam Khan, and Henna Hamadani Centre for Research on Poultry, Division of Livestock Production and Management Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir Shuhama. Alusteng, Srinagar 190006 J&K. INTRODUCTION The term poultry applies to a wide variety of bird species like chicken (domestic fowl), duck, turkey, geese, pigeon, guinea fowl, pheasants, quail and other game birds. In India, poultry is very often used as synonymous to chicken as they are more commonly found in our country and accounts for more than 90% of the total poultry population of the country. Chicken has received more attention in India's planning, research and developmental process. As a result, India's chicken industry as of today is not only vibrant and self reliant but is one of the best in the world. The ducks account for 7 per cent of poultry population and are mostly found in coastal states of the country and in states with more lakes and rivers like, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and West Bengal. The duck raising is still in a primitive stage and indigenous ducks outnumber exotic ducks in spite of their inferior performance. The quail eggs and meat have become popular. The growth of quail farming however has been hampered due to insistence on wild life licensing, high cost of production and non-availability of superior quail germplasm. The emu, guinea fowl, ostrich and turkey farming are in their infancy and there are miles to go for their commercial exploitation. Poultry is one of the fastest-growing segments of the agricultural sector in India, with an average growth rate of 8 to 10 percent per annum. Poultry production contributes around 1 percent to India’s GDP. India is the third largest producer of eggs in the world next only to China and USA.

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