In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the Rural Poultry Farming is considered to be a profitable Enterprise through the sale of Eggs as well as Meat. Approximately, 75% of the farm families keep 6 to 12 Rural Birds in their backyards. The Rural Birds produce 40 to 80 Eggs per Hen per Year, out of which, 31% is consumed by the family, 57% sold and only 12% used for the hatching purposes.
The Broody Hens are used for the multiplications of the stock. The entire management of Rural Poultry production is being handled by women. This underlines the significant relationship of women & rural poultry and its role in supporting the livelihood security of the rural farming community. However, the non-availability of the Rural Poultry Chicks is regarded as one of the major constraints in the progress of the Rural Poultry Farming in the Islands. Also, there is no commercial supplier for the Rural Poultry Chicks in the Islands.
For addressing the issue of non-availability of the Rural Poultry Chicks in the Islands, the ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands conceptualized the idea of “By the Farmers to the Farmers” using the Mini Incubator-cum-Hatcher for the continuous production and supply / availability of Chicks.
The Institute also organized a Series of Hands-on-Training Programme and Demonstration for the Rural Women on the selection of fertile egg, cleaning & hygienic handling of fertile eggs, operation of Mini Incubator and scientific package of practices for improving the rural chicken production. The ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair imparted the training to a total of 2,202 farmers in 25 Villages from Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Minicoy, Lakshadweep on functioning of the Mini Incubator.
As a part of the community-based demonstration under the DBT-Biotech Kisan Hub Project, a total of 7 Mini Incubator-cum-Hatcher Units (240 Eggs Capacity) were established at the different Villages of South Andaman and North & Middle Andaman Districts. The three Units were also established at the ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair, KVK, Sippighat and at Regional Station, Minicoy, Lakshadweep as the Incubation Facility. For the sustainable production and distribution of rural poultry chicks, the backward and forward linkage was established among the farmers. They were also provided with the Exposure Visits along with the Demonstrations Programmes to disseminate the technology’s usage for the other farmers.
Five successful rural women viz. Smt. Joyshana, Smt. Meenakshi, Smt. Rani Anbumlar and Smt. Binitha Singh from South Andaman and Smt. Asima Roy from Middle Andaman initiated the Micro Enterprise on Mini Incubator for hatching and started selling the Rural Poultry Chicks on a commercial mode. In a span of 2 Years, approximately, 1,000 farmers including 650 Farm Women have utilized the services of the Mini Incubator Facility to hatch out their own Chicks. The adopted farmers have successfully produced and distributed around 25,000 Chicks and Ducklings to the other farmers.
The technology’s horizontal dissemination could be visible as one of the Young Rural Farmer, Shri Kamal Biswas from North & Middle Andaman District purchased 2 Incubators of the Medium Scale of 6,000 Eggs capacity and started his business on hatching & selling of Duck Eggs. So far, a total of 15 farm women and unemployed youths have established their own Mini Incubators of 80 to 250 Eggs capacities and started producing the Rural Poultry Chicks.
The Farm Women Micro-Entrepreneurs are getting Monthly Net Income of Rs. 11,000 to Rs. 13,000 through the Hatching Facility with the Mini Incubator, their own sustainable resource for Rural Poultry Chicks and continuous sale of Rural Birds and Eggs. The Net Income is manifold higher than their previous Monthly Income.
The Entrepreneurship through the Mini Incubator has become a sustainable livelihood resource for their families.
Farm Economics of the Successful Women Farmer adopted the Mini Incubator Technology
|
Average Hatching Percentage with Mini Incubator (240 Eggs Capacity) |
85% |
|
Number of Chicks Hatched per Year |
2,448 |
|
Income (Rs.) |
|
|
Selling of Day Old Chick (Rs. 70 per Chick X 80 Chicks per Month X 12 Months) |
Rs. 67,200.0 |
|
Providing Incubation Facility (Rs.) for Eggs (Rs. 20 per Egg X 90 Eggs per Month X 12 Months) |
Rs. 21,600.0 |
|
Sale of Birds for Table Purpose (540 Nos. Per Year X 1.5 Kg per Bird X Rs.520 per Kg) |
Rs. 42,1200.0 |
|
Expenditure (Rs.) |
|
|
Cost of Purchase of Hatchable Eggs, Electricity, Sanitizer, Feed, etc. |
Rs. 3,50,640.0 |
|
Yearly Net Income (Rs.) |
Rs. 1,59,360.0 |
|
Monthly Net Income (Rs.) |
Rs. 13,280.0 |
(Source: ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands)
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