Citation of this paper

A study on the Frontline demonstration of backyard poultry in rural Odisha

B K Banja, P N Ananth, S Singh, S Behera and P Jayasankar

Krishi Vigyan Kendra-Khordha
ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture
Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar, Odisha-751002
ananthkvk100@gmail.com

Abstract

The present investigation is about the Front Line Demonstrations conducted at farmer’s field on backyard poultry by Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), the farm science centre of Indian Council of Agricultural Research for Khordha district of Odisha state, India. The KVK demonstrated the improved strains of backyard poultry in selected farmer’s field to scale up the practice in the locality by proving their potential over the local strains at micro farming situation. Over the years improved strains demonstrated were Black rock, Chabro, Gramapriya, Vanaraja, Plymouth Rock, Nirbheek and Kaveri. KVK demonstrated backyard poultry in 17 villages benefitting 280 farmers by distributing 3175 chicks.

The observations from the demonstration indicated that the performance of all improved strains were higher than the indigenous strains in terms of growth and egg production. Vanaraja was one of the preferred strains among the farmers which had a production change ranging from 150 to 169% in egg production and 160 to 216% with body weight compared to indigenous strains. The latest improved strain Kaveri demonstrated by KVK is also promising with 163 eggs/bird and average body weight of 3 kg/bird which also indicated a production change of 172% and 140% with regard to eggs produced and body weight gained respectively. The implications of the study are that Vanaraja and Kaveri are some of the promising strains that can be popularized in rural areas. Kaveri had a feature of withstanding predators accounting less mortality than the other strains.

Keywords: chicken, indigenous, free-range, local, native

Introduction

Backyard poultry is one of the feasible options for sustainable livelihoods and has been successfully demonstrated by several agencies. Pathak and Nath (2013) opine that livestock and poultry rearing is an imperative factor for improving the nutritional security of rural poor in India. In the backyard farming system farmers usually rear desi/native type chicken having low egg and meat production potential. Most of these indigenous strains exhibit poor production performances. The contribution of native birds in the total poultry population has dropped from 50% about 30 years ago to about 10% now (Rangnekar and Rangnekar 1999). Backyard poultry is primarily kept for egg and meat production on a subsistence basis in rural areas of India. Indian poultry industry has made a tremendous growth during the last four decades. Globally, India ranked third in egg production (66.45 billions) and fifth in chicken production (3.6 MT) in the year 2011-12. This increase in poultry production has enhanced the per capita availability to 55 eggs and 2.4 kg poultry meat per annum (GOI 2013).

In Odisha desi/native chicken of about 5-25 numbers are reared by rural households under the traditional scavenging system which provides food and financial security, and has socio cultural and socio-religious significance. Common indigenous or desi chicken breeds reared in Odisha are Hansli, Gujuri, Dumasil, Vezaguda, Dhinki, Phulbani and Kalahandi fowls (Mohapatra et al 1999; Sethi 2007). Development and extension agencies have been effectively working on promoting backyard poultry as a promising enterprise for rural areas.

One of the agencies that have been working on such interventions is Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) funded by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) at district level. The present study is about the promotion of backyard poultry through the mandatory activities of one such KVK established in 1977 under the administrative control of Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Since inception the KVK has been working on promoting backyard poultry through the mandatory works viz., On Farm Testing (OFT), Front Line Demonstration (FLD) and trainings. With this background the study was conducted with the following specific objectives:

a. To elicit the interventions on the promotion of backyard poultry in the district by KVK

b. To evaluate the performance of improved backyard poultry strains demonstrated by KVK

Materials and methods

The present investigation is based on the on farm trials (OFT) and Front Line Demonstrations (FLD) conducted on promoting backyard poultry in Khordha district. The investigation is confined to Khordha district of Odisha purposively selected because it is the jurisdiction area of KVK to work with the set mandates. Khordha is one of the 30 districts of Odisha State in India with abundant natural resources to support rural and urban livelihoods. Agriculture and allied sector like animal husbandry and fisheries play a vital role in the economic development of the district. Livestock in particular serve as an additional livelihood option for the rural community in all the blocks of the district. The major livestock resources of the district are cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig and poultry (hen & duck) which act as an important source of income to the people of the district. The respondents of the study were the farmers who were involved in the OFT and FLD conducted by KVK on backyard poultry. Primary data were collected from the participating communities and secondary data pertaining to the demonstrations were collected from the Annual Reports of KVK. The data was collected from 280 respondents of 17 villages comprising from six blocks through a pre-tested structured interview schedule and simple percentage analysis was used to interpret the data. The data for the study was analyzed in 2016 by considering the works from 2010-11 to 2015-16.

Results and discussions

Management of the on farm trials and demonstrations:

Since 2000 KVK started promoting backyard poultry through the mandatory works of OFT, FLD and training. With the available financial resources KVK provides either day old or 21 days old chicks free of cost to the farmers for trial and demonstration. The beneficiaries are selected as individual or group and KVK organizes trainings for providing information and knowledge on the strain and other management practices. KVK observes the growth of the strain and other selected parameters regularly upon implementing the intervention. The details of the work done by KVK over the years are presented in Table: 1.

Table 1. Spread of Backyard Poultry by KVK
Year	Intervention	Villages	Block	Strain	Beneficiaries	No. of chicks

2010-11	OFT	Prataprudrapur	Balianta	Black Rock	10	100
2010-11	FLD	Pudrarudrapur/ Belamara/ Adakhandia	Balianta/ Balipatna/ Khordha	Vanaraja	24	240

2011-12	FLD	Sahanisahi, Fakirpada	Balianta	Vanaraja	20	200

2012-13	FLD	Diniari	Begunia	Vanaraja	30	250
2012-13	OFT	Indolokusiary	Balipatna	Chabro	2	150

2013-14	OFT	Sorat, Indolokusiary/ Budhipada	Balipatna/ Balianta	Nirbhik	03	150
2013-14	FLD	Badkul	Chilika	Chabro	30	300

2014-15	FLD	Ogalapur	Begunia	Nirbhik	30	300
2014-15	OFT	Dhanahara	Balipatna	Gramapriya	20	300

2015-16	FLD	Guapur, Itipur/ Gobardhanpur	Balipatna/ Bhubaneswar	Vanaraja	66	660
	FLD	Orada	Tangi	Plymouth Rock	15	225
	OFT	Orada	Tangi	Kaveri	30	300

Total					280	3175

From the data presented in Table: 1 it is understood that between the period 2010-11 to 2015-16 KVK has promoted improved backyard poultry strains in 17 villages of Khordha district comprising from six blocks benefitting 280 farmers by providing 3175 chicks during the period. The strains promoted are Black Rock, Vanaraja, Chabro, Nirbheek, Gramapriya, Plymouth Rock and Kaveri. Every year KVK conducts on farm trials on new strains and the successful and productive strains are demonstrated in the forthcoming years. Vanaraja is one of the strains that was demonstrated by KVK for more than two times due to farmers’ preference and also to promote for large scale adoption. It could also be inferred that KVK has tested and demonstrated almost all the improved strains developed by different Research and Development Institutions located in Odisha State. The latest strain assessed and demonstrated has been on the dual purpose poultry Kaveri in rural villages of the district.

Performance of the demonstrations:

Backyard poultry trials and demonstrations over the years by KVK have yielded successful results for scaling up the practices especially in the tribal areas. The results of the demonstrations are presented below in Table: 2.

Table 2. Results of the interventions on backyard poultry
Year of Demonstrations	Breed/ Strain	Character	No. of demonstrations	Farming situation	Results (Body weight in Kg and Eggs in No)		% of change
					Demo	Farmers Practice

2010-11	Black Rock	Meat type	10	Backyard (50 days)	1.2 kg	0.38 kg	215.7
	Vanaraja	Dual type	24	Backyard	156 eggs	62 eggs	151.6
					3.25 kg	1.25 kg	160.0

2011-12	Vanaraja	Dual type	20	Backyard	148 eggs	55 eggs	169.0
					3.95 kg	1.25 kg	216.0

2012-13	Vanaraja	Dual type	30	Backyard	160 eggs	60 eggs	166.6
					4.1 kg	1.5 kg	173.3
	Chabro	Meat type	2	Intensive (42 days)	1.65 kg	1.8 kg*	-8.33

2013-14	Nirbhik	Egg type	3	Backyard	140 eggs	56 eggs	150.0
	Chabro	Meat type	30	Backyard (2 months)	1.5 kg	0.41 kg	265.8

2014-15	Nirbhik	Egg type	30	Backyard	146 eggs	55 eggs	165.4
	Gramapriya	Egg type	20	Backyard	154 eggs	58 eggs	165.5

2015-16	Vanaraja	Dual type	66	Backyard	150 eggs	60 eggs	150.0
					3.75 kg	1.33 kg	181.9
	Plymouth Rock	Meat type	15	Backyard (3 months)	1.21 kg	0.32 kg	278.1
	Kaveri	Dual type	30	Backyard	163 eggs	60 eggs	171.6
					3.0 kg	1.25 kg	140.0
*Commercial White broiler-Vencobb

From the data presented in Table: 2 it could be inferred that all the demonstrations of KVK with improved strains have performed better than the indigenous strains. The range of percentage change in all the interventions has been from 100 to 278.1 compared to the indigenous strains. The maximum change in the backyard system was with the meat type Plymouth Rock where the change of 278.1 % was observed compared to the farmer’s indigenous strain within a short period of three months. Performance of the other meat type strain Chabro was compared with the commercial white broiler strain Vencobb under similar intensive management practices and a change of (-) 8.33 % was observed during 42 days of rearing compared to Vencobb. Chabro was then introduced in the backyard system and a change of 268.8% was observed compared to native type chickens. However, these two meat type strains exhibited highest mortality rate (48-51%) compared to other improved and indigenous strains because these birds were more prone to predation and cold temperature. It was also identified that Black Rock and Chabro were not suitable for backyard and can be promoted for intensive farming as fast growing multi-coloured table birds.

The strain Vanaraja consistently performed a change of >150% during all the demonstrations with 150-160 eggs and a body weight gain ranging from 3.25 to 3.95 kg compared to the local indigenous strain. A similar study by Islam and Nath (2015) also indicated that increase of yield was found to be 227.42, 122.37 and 68.14 per cent in body weight at 6 months of age, annual egg production and B: C ratio respectively in Vanaraja birds over local check. The results are also in line with (Bhattacharya et al 2005) who stated that Vanaraja is a multi-coloured dual type of bird developed by Project Directorate on Poultry, Hyderabad for backyard farming by the rural and tribal people of India which has significantly contributed to their overall economy in terms of eggs and meat. In the present study the improved strain Nirbheek also performed well with a change of 150% compared to the local check. A study reported by (NAIP 2014) informs that compared to 42 eggs per year of local breed, ‘Nirbheek’ laid 98 eggs which meant that the improved breed out yielded the local breed by 133%. The latest strain that KVK intervened was on Kaveri, a dual purpose backyard poultry which also performed well yielding 163 eggs and an average body weight of 3.0 kg compared to the 56 eggs and 1.25 kg body weight gain of local indigenous strains. However, egg production reported by Muralidharan (2013) was 186 eggs per year in case of Kaveri poultry. It may be due to the fact that there are many factors which can adversely affect egg production like feed consumption (quality and quantity), water intake, intensity and duration of light received, parasite infestation, disease, and numerous management and environmental factors. The egg type improved strains such as Nirbheek and Gramapriya exhibited less growth rate in the backyard farming system.

Most of the improved dual and egg type poultry strains demonstrated by KVK in the backyard system performed at par with their genetic production potential. However, livability in the backyard situation was found to be quite less compared to the indigenous strains and intensive farming system. The mortality rate of different improved poultry strains demonstrated is presented in Table: 3.

Table 3. Mortality rate of backyard poultry
Type of poultry	Strain	Periodic Mortality %					Annual Mortality (%)	Annual Survival (%)	% mortality due to attributable causes
		Age in Months							% mortality due to attributable causes
		1^st	2^nd	3^rd-5^th	6^th-12^th	>12^th			Predation	Cold	Disease

Meat type	Black Rock	30	26	-	-	-	48	52	20	16	12
	Chabro	32	28	-	-	-	51	49	18.3	25.4	7.3
	Plymouth Rock	16	13	8	1	-	33	67	14.2	11.8	7
Dual type	Vanaraja	15	10	8	3	Nil	31	67	16.5	13.75	2.75
Dual type	Kaveri	8	8	3	2	Nil	20	80	7.5	12.5	-
Egg type	Nirbheek	8	7	4	1	Nil	18	82	9	9	-
Egg type	Gramapriya	12	9	6	4	Nil	28	72	10.85	9.4	7.75
Native type	Indigenous	5	4	1	-	Nil	9	91	1	-	8

From the above Table:3 it is evident that meat type (broiler) birds such as Black Rock and Chabro had high mortality rate (48-51%) in the rural farming system. However, among the other meat type birds, Plymouth Rock strain performed better in the backyard system with less mortality rate of 33%. The dual type (both egg and meat) strains such as Vanaraja and Kaveri had a mortality rate of 31 and 20% respectively. Islam et al (2015) considered 20 and 10% mortality rate in Vanaraja and local chicken in Assam during their whole experimental period of 18 months in the backyard rearing system. In case of egg type strains like Nirbheek and Gramapriya mortality rate recorded was 18 and 28% respectively. Thus, the average mortality rate of improved dual as well as egg type strains was found to be 24.25 % compared to the 8-10% of indigenous poultry under farmers’ management practice in the backyard. Maximum mortality (8-15%) in the egg and dual type strains took place except the meat type strains where it ranged from 16-32% during the 1^st month of their life compared to the 5% of local desi/native type chicks, especially when day old chicks were allowed in free range scavenging system. During the rearing period of one year predation by stray dogs, wild cats, wild birds, mongoose and others alone accounted for a mortality rate ranging from 7-20% compared to the mere 1% of native chicken. Death percentage during this period due to diseases or cold temperature ranged from 7-25% compared to 8% of native birds. However, when 21 days old chicks were supplied to the beneficiaries after completion of brooding, feeding and health management at KVK, the mortality rate could be minimized considerably. Mortality due to predation, cold or diseases exhibited a descending trend with the increase in chick’s age, reducing to 1-4% from six months age onwards. Among the improved strains, Nirbheek exhibited highest survival rate of 82% followed by Kaveri (80%). From the above observations it is evident that mortality in case of improved poultry birds due to various reasons is high (25-35%) in the backyard farming system in comparison to local indigenous poultry birds. However, the mortality with indigenous strains was only 8-10% as they are more resistant to diseases, cold temperature and well protected from predators due to their activeness and flying character. However, considering the production potential of the improved poultry birds (egg and meat production), this high mortality rate can be ignored while calculating the total poultry products (egg and meat) generated from a particular locality, area, region or the nation as a whole.

Table 4a. Economic analysis of the demonstrations
Year	Strain	Gross Cost (Rs/Bird)		Gross Return (Rs/Bird)		Net Return (Rs/Bird)		B:C Ratio
Year	Strain	Demo	Local	Demo	Local	Demo	Local	Demo	Local

2010-11	Black Rock (Backyard 50 days)	149	66	361	128	212	62	2.42	1.93
2010-11	Vanaraja	160	95	800	305	640	210	5.0	3.21

2011-12	Vanaraja	168	98	818	296	650	198	4.86	3.02

2012-13	Vanaraja	173	105	990	310	817	205	5.72	2.95
2012-13	Chabro (Intensive 42 days)	127	133*	149	153	22	20	1.17	1.15

2013-14	Nirbhik	198	130	465	188	267	58	2.34	1.44
2013-14	Chabro (Backyard 60 days)	50	18	150	38	100	20	3.0	2.1

2014-15	Nirbhik	208	128	477	196	269	68	2.29	1.53
2014-15	Gramapriya	403	201	713	294	310	93	1.76	1.46

2015-16	Vanaraja	140	90	626	343	486	253	4.47	3.8
	Plymouth Rock (Backyard 90 days)	38	25	79	27	41	2	2.0	1.08
	Kaveri	160	90	686	343	526	253	4.28	3.8
* Commercial White broiler- Vencobb

From the above table it could be also understood that the B:C ratio of Vanaraja was found to range from 4.47 to 5.72 compared to the local check ranging from 1.15 to 3.8. Uddin et al (2013) also reported much higher benefit cost ratio (5.57) in native type poultry reared in the coastal regions of Bangladesh. However, Sumy et al (2010) assessed that there was profitability in rearing indigenous chicken under backyard with a B:C ratio of 1.60 and 1.61 in two of the study areas. Among the demonstration of different strains of backyard poultry Vanaraja had a higher B:C ratio compared to other improved and local indigenous strains. In 2012-13, the B:C ratio of the strain Vanaraja was found to be 5.72 which was the highest among the demonstrations performed by KVK. Islam et al 2015 also reported that higher B:C ratio in Vanaraja was due to high egg production and attainment of better body weight in the given period of time as compared to local indigenous chicken. The results of the study indicate that Vanaraja is the best strain that will be adaptable in the region as majority of the farmers under KVK’s jurisdiction preferred this strain due to its attractive look and faster growth though the strain is susceptible to predation. Islam and Nath ( 2015) concluded that the field performance of Vanaraja birds under FLDs strongly narrate its superiority in terms of increased annual egg production, higher growth rate, earlier age at first egg and B : C ratio over local check.

Vanaraja and Kaveri had an average production of 154 and 163 eggs respectively compared to the average 56 eggs from local indigenous hen. Likewise live body weight of Vanaraja ranged between 3.25-3.75 kg in female and 3.95-4.1 kg in male birds with an average body weight of 3.76 kg. Kaveri female and male birds achieved 2.8 kg and 3.2 kg live body weight respectively with an average of 3.0 kg compared to the average 1.5 kg of indigenous chicken. However, improved breeds worth extra expenses in terms of extra supplementary feed cost, but still have economic advantage over the conventional indigenous breeds. The economic analysis of rearing dual purpose breeds (Vanaraja and Kaveri) compared to local poultry under the KVK demonstration programme is presented in the Table: 4b.

Table 4b. Economic analysis of Vanaraja and Kaveri compared to Native strain

Breed/ Strain

Unit size

M/F
Ratio

Mortality

Survival

M/F
survival

Expenses

Gross cost/
Unit (Rs)

Products

Revenue
(Rs)

Gross
Return/
Unit (Rs)

Net
Return/
Unit(Rs)

B.C.
Ratio

Indigenous

1:1

5+4

Chick cost, low cost housing, household grains, medicine etc.@ Rs.100/bird for 9 birds

900

280 eggs (@ Av. 56 eggs/hen from 5 hens)

1400
@ 5/egg

3425

2525

3.81

13.5 kg. live wt. (@ Av.1.5 kg /bird from 9 birds )

2025
@ 150/ kg

Vana-raja

1:1

4+3

Rs.100 as above + cost of supplementary poultry feed, vaccine, vitamins etc.(Total @Rs.200/ bird for 7 birds

1400

462 eggs (@Av.154 eggs/hen from 3 hens)

2310
@ 5/egg

6258

4858

4.47

26.32 kg live wt. (@ Av. 3.76 kg/bird from 7 birds)

3948
@ 150/kg

Kaveri

1:1

4+4

Rs.200/bird as above for 8 birds

1600

625 eggs (@Av.163 eggs/hen from 4 hens)

3260
@ 5/egg

6860

5260

4.28

24.0 kg live wt. (@ Av. 3.0 kg/bird from 8 birds)

3600
@ 150/kg

From the above data presented it can be inferred that rearing dual purpose improved strains of poultry in the backyard would fetch higher economic return and nutritional security to the farmers. The upcoming dual purpose strain Kaveri with a B:C ratio of 4.28 having a characteristic feature of withstanding to predators and higher egg production potential will definitely attract farmers for backyard rearing for their economic upliftment. Islam et al (2015) estimated the cost of production per bird as Rs. 215.10 in local and Rs.257.77 in Vanaraja chicken. In contrast, Nath et al (2013) reported higher cost of production per bird as Rs. 729.50 under scientific backyard rearing of high yielding chicken in Sikkim.

Case study of Promotion of Backyard poultry through SHGs

Diniary, a tribal village in Begunia Block of Khordha district with a population of 400, majority belonging to ST category and landless wage earners. During 2012 KVK identified that poultry production system in Diniary and neighboring villages was traditional and less remunerative due to the poor production potential (60-65 eggs and 1.5-1.65 Kg body weight/year) of the native/desi type poultry birds.

Understanding this KVK introduced a dual purpose improved bird “Vanaraja” in the same traditional system of rearing that has been followed by the farmers over the years. Vanaraja, was identified for intervention due to its multiple colour resembling indigenous birds, higher growth and egg production potential that would fetch better price in terms of meat and egg in the market. Three Self-Help Groups (SHG) comprising 12 members in each group were identified for the intervention. KVK organized several group discussions and trainings to motivate them to adopt Vanaraja by replacing local birds. Within each SHG the members having interest and skill in rearing local poultry and having indigenous available resources were identified as the first line beneficiaries. Under the FLD programme of KVK 300 numbers of 21 days old Vanaraja chicks were provided to 30 beneficiaries of the SHGs. They were imparted with training on scientific poultry production, supplementary feeding, health management and marketing. The beneficiaries were trained in managing the production of Vanaraja in better way with low cost sheds and other management practices. The interventions of KVK gave confidence for the groups to maintain the birds and to succeed in the practice.

The birds started laying eggs upon attaining sexual maturity by 180 days. At initial laying period the egg size was small (40-45 g) but within a months period the eggs attained marketable size (55-58 g). The eggs with brownish colour of Vanaraja resembled that of local poultry egg and the birds attained an average of 4.1 kg body weight and gained confidence and endless happiness. Each farm family could get at least 4-5 eggs everyday from a flock of 10 birds and sold @ Rs.7/egg and earned a minimum of Rs.14/- to Rs.21/- after internal consumption by family members. Thus each farm family could earn up to Rs.400/- to Rs.600/- per month from sale of eggs. The beneficiaries also could earn Rs.350/- from each male bird (cock) after six months of rearing by selling @ Rs.100/kg body weight. Again the beneficiaries purchased new stock of Vanaraja chicks from the income they got from the initial stock. After six months of laying period the female birds were also sold @ Rs.200-300/bird. In this way a beneficiary was able to generate a minimum of Rs.5000/- per annum from a flock of 10 birds.

The beneficiaries were very happy with the KVK intervention and they successfully utilised their leisure time for generating lucrative income with minimum expenditure. After witnessing success of the beneficiaries of Diniary village the tribal farmers from surrounding villages have shown their interest for adopting this strain. Many of the farmers also have purchased fertilized Vanaraja eggs from the beneficiaries and produced chicks by incubating with the help of their local hens.

Conclusions and recommendations

The KVK has been a knowledge centre for the district in technology assessment at farmer’s field for agriculture and allied sector. Based on this study it could be concluded that the improved strains perform better than the indigenous strain. Vanaraja has proved to be best strain with all features to be a suitable candidate for backyard. However, the upcoming strain Kaveri has an additional feature of withstanding predators which will be more attractive than the other strains. Extension agencies can use this data set for further promotion of these backyard poultry strains in rural areas as many of the development agencies have this as an option for livelihoods. The advantage of promoting Vanaraja has been in groups and individual farms as source of supplementary income that can be added to the livelihood of farmers.

References

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Received 27 August 2016; Accepted 20 January 2017; Published 1 May 2017

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