Tribal women in four hamlets in Sendhwa block wake up to the crows of Kadaknath in their poultry farm. To become self-reliant, 20 women in four hamlets: Beejapuri, Baapdad, Borli and Piplyagoi in Sendhwa block in Barwani district in the state – have started raising Kadaknath, the name that titillates the most jaded of palates. Kadaknath is an Indian breed of chicken and Jhabua and Dhar districts of the state are popular for its farming. But it is for the first time that its farming has started in the Sendhwa district. For this, the women have been trained by Priyanshi Educational, Cultural & Social Society (PECSS), Bhopal.
Due to its high protein and very low fat and cholesterol levels, it is in high demand. Its fat content is 0.73 — 1.03% compared to 13 to 25% in most other chicken breeds. This famous kadaknath chicken has now got a geographical indication (GI Tag) tag. It was approved by Indian government on July 30 this year. Director, PECSS, Shalini Saxena told Free Press, “The demand of Kadaknath chicken is a lot not only in India but also in abroad. Its demand in Saudi Arab is 75,000.
Jhabua district is very popular for Kadaknath farming, but it is for the first time tribal women of four villages of Sendhwa have begun its farming. And for this, we gave one month training to them. Our motto behind this is to make the women self reliant and also to build up confidence on them.” She said, “The farming process of Kadaknath is quite different from the ordinary chicken. We have to maintain hygiene.
So, we trained them about the process of the farming including hygiene, food and temperature. Everything is very systematic. And for this, we hired a resource person from Jhabua. A doctors is also appointed for this who checkup the pullets every third day.”
“After six months, when women become adept in farming, we will train them in marketing, so that they could sell their products on their own. We will develop a website for this,” Saxenea added. Besides farming, women are also being trained to make florescent jackets and unpolished pulse called Dabang Dal. “We have been working with for women, farmers and drop out students for 10 years in MP, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Manipur with support of Functional Vocational Training and Research Society, Bangalore,” she said.