India has seen a tremendous growth in the poultry industry over the past decades. Some regions have reported a dramatic increase in the incidence of infectious disease outbreaks during this time. Remedial action may often be too late to respond to the emergence of a new disease or an epornitic of a catastrophic infection. There are difficult challenges facing the industry on a global level,then also poultry products (meat and eggs) still represent a major part of animal protein consumed by humans. The basic fundamentals of Poultry Hygiene lie with
- Prevention
- Minimization
- Elimination of Risk
“Treatment without prevention is simply unsustainable.” ~ Bill Gates
But the Major challenge lies with prevention. Over the years, we have observed that the general tendency of Indian poultry farmers is to look for solutions after the disease breakout occurs which becomes too late to find the solution for the disease. The cost factor always plays an important role in deciding Poultry Hygiene measure. Even some who follow some hygiene & Bio security measures, they tend to use generic chemicals rather than Formulated and well researched products. So, We will try to explore why Indian Poultry Farm owners don’t use Formulated Products ?
1.Cost
Most Poultry Farmers clean and disinfect the shed before buying new batch of chicks using lime (Calcium Hydroxide) as a disinfectant. Their cleaning focuses on cleaning only the Floors & Equipments, although the government recommended cleaning and disinfecting the entire facility.Farmers regularly use locally available materials such as Bleaching Powder (Calcium Hypochlorite) and Potassium Permanganate as disinfectants. Although Farmers are recommended washing and /or disinfecting utensils, Feed Sacks, Medicine packets and equipment used for collecting litter but, Poultry owners rarely follow these Practices. Mainly Poultry Farm owners don’t follow the necessary steps to reduce the overall cost related to production of each batch. These generic solutions are locally available in the markets at a very cheaper rate. It becomes difficult for a small poultry owner to follow superior hygiene standards. I would recommend you to read this article on Bio security measures to be followed
“Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten.” ~ Aldo Gucci
Influence of Major Integrators
In India, the Poultry business is driven by major poultry companies who are working with small poultry owners on either contract basis or long term. So, they become influencers for Poultry farmers in their buying decisions. Some of these poultry companies use formulated chemicals and some use generic solutions for hygiene purpose. The main aim of these major poultry companies is to increase their profit and lower their costs. This is the reason why they choose cheaper hygiene solutions. The responsibility lies with the companies to educate the poultry farm owners to follow necessary hygiene and bio security measures.
Awareness of Hygiene standards
The lack of knowledge about safety & bio security measures can be lower productivity & increase disease among the birds. The objective of every farm owner is to increase the production, increase the weight of the bird & lower death rate. If something goes wrong, remedial measures are taken by that time the loss is already done. For instance, Majority farmers use chlorine compounds to clean water pipelines, which can increase or decrease the pH value of water and can also cause the rusting of farm equipments for the long run. Thus, there is a need for formulated products which can be used to clean the pipelines effectively without effecting pH value of the water.
A complete Guide to Bio Security
The Problem of Supply chain Management
The complex geographical conditions of India, makes it difficult for the suppliers to reach the end customer. The Formulated hygiene products are manufactured at the industrial belts of India. It becomes a supply chain challenge to reach these medium to small poultry farms. It also increases the overall cost of products till it reach the end user. So, the poultry owners tend to use anything that is available locally without having proper knowledge of the products. The generic solutions are available in the market very easily.
“Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” ~ Ronald Reagan
Less involvement of Government bodies
Government agencies in India including the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India have the regulatory authority to impose restrictions on the use of harmful chemicals and antibiotics, but are unable to move in that direction. Proper inspection mechanism has to put in place to educate & regulate the hygiene process in the poultry industry.
Conclusion
It would be safe to say that all these factors constitutes that the farmers use generic chemicals than opting formulated and well researched products. Other factors like the rising cost of feeds, taxation policies, poor credit policies & rising business cost does not allow the poultry owners to follow proper hygiene conditions. Narsipur’s main objective is to promote hygiene & biosecurity among poultry, dairy& aquaculture industries. There are lot of benefits of following proper hygiene practices mainly increase in productivity, less mortality rate & disease prevention.
