Indian poultry sector seeks feed subsidy

The Andra Pradesh Poultry Federation has asked the Indian government to support their poultry farmers, who are facing higher feed costs, with subsidised rates on wheat and rice.

Andhra Pradesh Poultry Federation (APPF) joint secretary N. Nageswara Rao has asked the Ministry for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution to allot at least 200,000 tonnes of wheat and rice at subsidised rates to the poultry farmers who were facing hardships owing to higher feed price which comprises of maize and soya.

“The yield of maize was 19 million tonnes last year and that of soya 11.50 million tonnes in the country. This has resulted in the increase in the cost of production of an egg to Rs.3.25 (€0.048) and that of broilers to Rs.90 (€1.34) per kg,” Mr Rao pointed out.

Mr. Rao said that the Government should channel soymeal exports to Iran through Government agencies and also ban forward trading in the commodity.

“The requirement of the domestic consumption should be considered before allowing further exports,” he added.

He said that the AP produced 70 million eggs per day, which is one third of country’s egg production and 30 million broilers per month accounting for one tenth of the country’s broiler production. “The poultry industry is providing employment to more than 600,000 people mostly in rural areas,” he added.

At the national-level the poultry industry contributed €8.94 billion to the GNP and provided employment to over six million people.

“In addition, 200,000 maize and 400,000 soyabean farmers are directly dependent on this sector because 80 per cent of the maize and a substantial share of soyameal produced in the country are utilised by the poultry industry,” Mr. Rao said.

Source: The Hindu