Girijans at Killoguda used to lose their chicken to disease or predators. And to counter it they have organised back yard poultry with desi breeds and co-ops giving vaccination at regular intervals and providing to support their venture. In the long run, it intends to increase the income of the 100 families in the cluster on poultry from Rs. 12000 to Rs. 15000 a year.
Innovating on the Nammakkal model in Tamil Nadu, it aims to bring down the feed cost by Rs. 25000 a year encouraging entrepreneurs to take up breed farms in their land with birds foraging for 70 % of feed.
Killo Jamuna and Ramachander shifted from niger and pumpkin on which they used to make Rs. 5000 a year if rain was sufficient to run a breed farm in their half an acre of land. "Now we are able to sell each chicken at Rs. 500 as per gram sabha resolution and make Rs. 20,000 during the last six months," says Ramachander.
Each farm is provided 80 % of the 50 hens and 10 cocks required and it has to support 100 families by providing them five birds each in two cycles in one year from the farm.
Objective
"The larger objective is to shift the focus to desi birds which constitute 84 % of the country's poultry farming in the light of failure of successive attempts to raise hybrid varieties in backyards," says programme manager M.L. Sanyasi Rao of WASSAN, lead technical agency for "Strengthening Backyard Poultry for Livelihoods and Nutritional Security in ITDA areas" of four districts.
The Rs. 7.2-crore, two-year programme, supported by Animal Husbandry and Tribal Welfare departments, is taken up in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari districts.
After successful implementation of five breed farms in Srikakulam district with the support of ATMA and Animal Husbandry Department in Srikakulam district, the programme proposal was submitted to the Animal Husbandry Department.
The programme covers 129 clusters supporting 12,900 families. So far, 79 breed farms have been established. In Visakhapatnam district of the 50 proposed 26 set up in six tribal mandals. For each cluster, Rs. 4 lakh is sanctioned of which Rs. 3000 each is given to 100 families to construct night shelter. The farm entrepreneur is given Rs. 95,000 and he has to invest Rs. 25000. Traditional fencing is supported with PVC mesh to prevent entry of snakes.
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