Today poultry industry is acquiring a complete industrial status as compared to what it was as a small scale industry when started. The bigger players have reached a stage where they need to think tangentially and take this industry to different plane altogether. As of now the broiler produce price is not in the manufacturer’s control, still it is governed by so called traders/wholesalers. The poultry farmers/ integrators have raised their volumes enormously but they still carry farmer’s mindset. To sustain their growth now it is time for the farmers to look out for different avenues, break the traditional market system and enhance the acceptability of their produce.
On one side the human nutritionists , health organisation talk loudly about malnourishment/ undernourishment, requirement of quality protein , whereas on the other side poultry fraternity takes drastic steps to cut down the production so as to get the better price for their produce. This is the biggest irony of this country, but then such conditions are actually the opportunities available.
We do advertisement on electronic and print media to increase consumption of chicken and eggs, and think this is what the best we can do. No but we need to open up different channels not just to increase our domestic consumption but also to participate in international trade. We need to attract impulsive buyer rather than the determined buyer, for that our produce needs to be at arm’s length to the customer. For that we need to invest into the infrastructure for supply chain, why can’t an integrator invest into this his profits and set an example for fellow producers. Do we still need to follow the traditional mandi practices to sell our produce? Few players are doing it but it needs to be done more comprehensively, lookout for customer preferences, make them available your produce in a way they want. We need to sell the protein source rather than the broiler bird/ chicken.
The poultry industry media only talks about the benefits of chicken and eggs, but what about the general media, what about the human nutrionists, medical practitioners, schools and other corporate institutes, why can’t we target them as audience and make them aware of the quality of our produce and to fulfill our population’s protein requirement. As per the WHO standards we are consuming only half the protein required by us and then we have this industry ready to supply the most affordable and wholesome protein struggling for the consumers.
We produce chicken with the greatest efficiency but we still cannot export it and participate in the international market, what is that stopping us? As an industry cannot we adopt all the standard norms that required by the international community? We need to work seriously to answer these questions and fortunately the solution lies within. It is time for us to pull up our socks and get ready to go on the next pedestal. In this open market scenario we should not be left behind and somebody outsider grabs all the opportunity available.
Dr. Harish V. Dharne
Berg And Schmidt (India) Pvt. Ltd.
