Poultry

"Poultry is one of the sectors where SDS’s multi-dimensional approach has produced 137% growth for small holders "

Poultry is one of the fastest-growing segments of the agricultural sector in India today. While the production of crops has been rising at a rate of 1.5 to 2% per annum, that of eggs and broilers has been growing at a rate of 8 to 10 % per annum. In India, The poultry sector is broadly divided into two sub-sectors - one with a highly organized commercial sector with about more than 80% of the total market share and the other being unorganized with less than 20% of the total market share.

The unorganized sector, also called backyard poultry, plays a crucial role in supplementary income generation and family nutrition for the poorest of the poor. It is estimated that with a poultry population of 851.81 million small and medium farmers are primarily engaged in contract farming systems under larger integrators, and around 30 million farmers are engaged in backyard poultry as per the Basic Husbandry Statistics-2020.

The needs of organized and unorganized sectors are very different. Discussions with various stakeholders reveal that poultry sector- especially the commercial poultry sector- is flourishing in certain pockets, where an amenable environment exists, along with backward and forward linkages. In contrast, the unorganized sector is very dispersed and micro-fragmented.

During 2019-2020, India produced around 8.60 million tonnes of meat. Poultry alone contributed 50.50% , accounting for 4.34 million tonnes.

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