Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan will inaugurate a poultry complex of the Kerala Poultry Development Corporation at Pettah here on Thursday.
Food and Civil Supplies Minister C. Divakaran said here on Monday that complex had an air-conditioned restaurant, a fair price shop for veterinary medicines, a help centre for farmers and a training centre. The restaurant could seat 100 persons and would offer parcel service and a car park. The help centre would offer assistance to small farmers and those who planned to set up large poultry farms. The training centre would soon be upgraded as a study centre of the Indira Gandhi National Open University offering certificate courses in subjects related to poultry farming.
The Minister said the corporation would launch value-added products, such as sausages, cutlets and lollypops, at the inaugural function. It was already marketing marinated chicken. Facilities had been set up for making them with the help of modern technology.
Mr. Divakaran said the corporation would set up a plant for manufacturing poultry feed at Kudppanakkunnu here in two months. It would have a capacity to produce 60 tonnes of feed a shift. Nearly 20,000 poultry units would be promoted in Palakkad and Wayanad districts under the Vidarbha Package. A poultry meat processing unit would be set up at Muvattupuzha at a cost of Rs.1.5 crore.
He said poultry clubs would be started in 50,000 schools in various districts. Each pupil would be given three chicks and 6 kg of feed free through the clubs.
