In what could be a shot in the arm of the poultry sector in the coastal region, a breeder farm is coming at Murari in Gandepalli mandal of East Godavari district with a capacity of producing around 25,000 hatchlings a day.
At present, the managements of all the 350 poultry farms in the district are procuring the hatchlings either from Pune or from Hyderabad and growing them in a protected environment. While the total production of eggs from the entire State is around five crore a day, East Godavari accounts for 1.4 crore eggs.
The farmers need to approach breeder farms to buy hatchlings in the event of bird mortality owing to climate change or any other issue and any delay in the procurement takes a toll on the production. Further, frequent visits to the breeder farms will change the business economics as well.
Decks cleared
“We have got the licence to establish a breeder farm and finalised a site at Murari. Since many poultry farms are coming up in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam, the demand for hatchlings will be increased manifold in the days to come for sure and the breeder farm here will fill the gap,” says Padala Subba Reddy, a poultry farmer from Anaparthy, also the general secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Poultry Farmers Welfare Association.
Bird mortality
After witnessing bird mortality and drop in egg production during the summer, the poultry farmers have seen the brighter side of their business recently when the State government announced an interest waiver to the tune of ₹60 crore, besides slashing the electricity charges from ₹6.80 to ₹ 3.80 per unit. Most the farms that have reduced the number of birds by 30% to 40% owing to the high maintenance charges are now planning to adding adequate number of birds to their farms.
Export market
“Luckily, egg price is more or less stable this year and the export market is quite conducive. This has helped us come out of the crisis of bird mortality, a common feature during the summer,” Mr. Reddy explains, while admitting that the industry has witnessed 1% bird mortality and 10 % drop in egg production every day during the summer.
“The works for the breeder farm will commence soon and we are keen that the farm starts production from the next year,” he adds.