It was just a decade ago when the 'Kadaknath' breed of chicken from Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh was on the verge of extinction due to higher mortality rates and cross breeding, however, the situation is fast changing now.
Thanks to concerted efforts undertaken by authorities in the last few years to save the bird, this breed of black chicken is now back with a bang.
"In the absence of awareness and information among tribals about the correct methods of poultry development, the original breed of 'Kadaknath' was on the verge of extinction in Jhabua about 10 years ago. In tribal areas, Kadaknath and other species are being kept together, which resulted in cross breeding," Chief of Jhabua's Agricultural Science Centre, Dr IS Tomar, told PTI.
Tomar said a Central study in 2009-10 found that the mortality rate of Kadaknath chicken was very high. "Simultaneously, the weight of the adult Kadaknath was less than that of other species. The tribals were not getting good prices for this breed in the market, which caused their disillusionment with its production," he said.
Tomar said as part of an experiment, separate sheds were made for Kadaknath chickens and 100 chickens were kept in each compartment and were vaccinated.
"On the basis of a special feeding chart, we fed them nutrition which helped them to gain weight," he said.
Kadaknath chicken is called "Kalamasi" for its black meat in the local language. Its skin colour, wings and flesh are black.
The breed is known for nutritional qualities as the percentage of fat and cholesterol in its meat is significantly lower than other breeds of chicken. The quantity of protein in the meat of this black breed is relatively higher.
Moreover, the demand for Kadaknath breed is rising on belief that its meat contains medicinal properties.
At present, the price of a Kadaknath chicken in the retail market is Rs 500 to Rs 800 per kg while normal chicken meat is sold at Rs 80 to Rs 140 per kg.
Dr Bhagwan Manghnani, Additional Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry Department, said that due to rising demand, Observation Centre for Kadaknath production has also been set up outside Jhabua.
Districts like Alirajpur, Barwani, Dhar, Dewas, Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Shahdol and Chhindwara are being developed as big centres of Kadaknath production.
"During the current financial year, the total production of Kadaknath chicken is expected to go up to four lakh chickens in the state. Schemes are being formulated to double the annual production of Kadaknath chickens to 8 lakh over the next two years," said Manghnani.
He also said that the state's cooperative department has introduced a mobile application for marketing the Kadaknath chicken so that a large market can become available for breeders.
This application has been linked to various cooperative societies that breed the black bird in different districts.
"At present, the demand coming through this app is for chickens than adult Kadaknath. We want to increase sales of the big birds instead of chickens, because it is more beneficial to the producers," he said.
Last month, the Geographical Indications (GI) Registry of the country initially approved the claim of Madhya Pradesh on Kadaknath breed.
If all goes well, it is expected that Kadaknath of Jhabua would get the GI tag, which is expected to further increase the demand for the black bird.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)