India works at alleviating poverty through poultry development programme

A new poverty alleviation programme to benefit those Below Poverty Line (BPL) has been launched by the Union Ministry of Agriculture, said P.K. Shukla, Joint Commissioner, Poultry, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in India.

Explaining the programme, Dr. Shukla said under the Rural Backyard Poultry Development Programme endemic birds would be distributed to BPL families. The programme was launched in Bihar, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim in August last year and birds that required minimum care and feed, bred by the Indian Council of Agriculture and State Agriculture Universities were distributed.

The BPL families would get four-week old chicks and the government would also provide them a subsidy of INR750 (US$17) for bird shelters. Each family would get 45 birds in three instalments, which would be distributed at a gap of 16 weeks each. The Department had identified 20 endemic birds.

More research on breeding, nutrition and health care of alternative poultry is needed, said N. Daniel Joy Chandran, Registrar, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University.