Hyderabad:
The Poultry India management apart from conducting a series of successful Poultry India Exhibitions each year has also been focusing on regular conduction of Knowledge Day Technical Seminars each year just prior to the main Poultry India event. This year the Knowledge Day was conducted at Hotel Novotel, Hitex City, on November 26, 2019.
The session began with the lighting of Inaugural Lamp by Dr G Ranjith Reddy, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, flanked by Mr Chakardhar Rao (President- IPEMA), Mr Harish Garware (Ex President- IPEMA), Mr GB Soundararajan (All India Poultry Breeders Association), Mr Anil Dhumal ( Ex President-IPEMA) and Dr PK Shukla (Mathura University).
Mr Anil Dhumal welcomed the delegates at the Knowledge Day session. He said there has been a very good response for the Knowledge Day and declared that we have more than 1250 online registration and around 150 spot registrations for this event. He said for the exhibition we have around 350 exhibitors out of which 99 are international exhibitors and the show will be from November 27-29, 2019 at the Hitex Exhibition Centre with over 30,000 visitors expected for the show.
He said this is a knowledge sharing platform and the Chairman is Dr Pankaj Shukla who shall provide with the details. He said there should be an eagerness to learn more things and upgrade ourselves and all this depends on how one uses his mind to assimilate it. He spoke in detail on mind management. He said at the end of the second session we have a motivation programme by Mr Chetan Bhagat. He said that this year has been very stressful for our industry, high feed prices, cage ban issue and now the import of chicken leg issue. He said we are fortunate to have Member of Parliament, Dr Ranjith Reddy for our support and he has taken this matter with the Government which is very encouraging. In the evening we have our legends honouring programme and this year we are going to honour Mr PS Nand Kumar, Mr Ponnarai Lakshmaiah and Mr Thorat from Pune. He said after this knowledge sharing session the delegates will have some take home points to upgrade their production.
Dr Pankaj Shukla welcomed the delegates on the 13th edition of Knowledge Day. He thanked the efforts of the Knowledge Day organizing team which had 10 members which includes Mr Harish Garware, Dr Vijay Makhija, Dr Manjunath, Dr Dinesh Bhonsale, Dr PS Mahesh, Mr Rajesh Rosia, Dr Ajit Ranade, Dr Shivaji Dey and all together we have taken seven topics to be deliberated and the theme today is –“Igniting Minds.” He said if this spark can be given which turns into a ray of hope and can achieve our motto. He said in real sense this is the year of happenings for the Animal Husbandry sector which has created a history and the very first is setting of the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and it is a big step in the history of this country because Animal Husbandry has been recognized upto that stage to set a special Ministry. The second being Dr G Ranjith Reddy being elected as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, who raised the voice for poultry in the very first address to the Parliament. The poultry fraternity is very happy that in times to come there shall be man policy interventions for betterment of Indian poultry. He wished to see Dr G Ranjith Reddy as a member of Standing Parliamentary Committee on Animal Husbandry. He said it is time to think that how our poultry sector will join the economy to combat with malnutrition and if we see the national statistics more than 3 crores of children are malnourished in this country and 50 percent of child deaths are due to malnutrition.
He said poultry can become a tool to combat malnutrition and safeguarding human health in times to come. He said the last 10 years was very slow progress in improving the nutritional status of this country. The NHFS has shown a sheer improvement 2003-2005 and 2013-2014 of 5-7 percent. He said our food habits are changing and the children and youth between the age group of 8-17 today are almost 75 percent non-vegetarian. He said we have a lot of scope for poultry in the nation building process. He said we are happy that Indian poultry is growing fast. He said there has been a dismal export of eggs and chicken. Of the 1400 billion eggs produced worldwide only 11 percent enters international trade but if we see India, only around 3-4 percent so it a point to ponder whether we can improve this. He said likewise in broiler meat production 6.8-10 percent enters world trade but in India it is only 3.8 percent. He said there are challenges as we move forward but we must achieve this. He said the present challenge is the rising feed prices and as we all know 70 percent of the total input on poultry production is made on feed. He said the rising prices of maize and soya has made it extremely difficult for this sector to remain competitive in this market. He said we are combating the cage ban issue since last two years and there were problems with animal welfare issues but fortunately that has been transferred to the Animal Husbandry ministry. He said the news on import of chicken legs had created sleepless nights for our poultry sector for about 3-4 months but with the intervention of our MP, the industry went to the group of ministries and finally the Niti Ayog has also supported our industry.
Dr G Ranjith Reddy delivered the keynote address and thanked the organizers for conduction of Knowledge Day Technical Seminar. He also welcomed the dignitaries, eminent speakers and the assembled delegates. He congratulated Dr PK Shukla for organizing this event. He said on previous occasions, he had represented Poultry Breeders Association at various forums. He said the poultry fraternity should be proud to declare that they provide affordable nutrition to the people. He said the Indian poultry industry is mostly misunderstood and very less understood by both the consumers and the government and this is a misfortune for us. He said this will not happen again as you all know that that there are two representatives for poultry industry in the Parliament including him and Dr Chinaraj AKP from Tamil Nadu. He said we should give standing ovation to Shri Giriraj Singh (Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India.)
Dr Ranjith Reddy said Shri Giriraj Singh Ji and Mr Sanjeev Balyan with all the bureaucrats are there to help us along with me and Mr Chinaraj AKP. They are all well aware of the problems faced by the Indian poultry industry. He said they have all promised to care well of the poultry industry. He said in his very first address in the Parliament, he had raised the issue of poultry. He assured to live up to the expectations of the poultry industry. He said poultry made a humble beginning in India and with three decades of experience in poultry. He said e have grown to become 3rd largest in egg production and 4th largest in chicken production on the global scale. He said let us start talking about how to grow still further from here like jumping to the 2nd in egg production and 3rd in chicken production since last one decade and for this we definitely need the support of the Government of India to surge ahead. India is continuously growing in the poultry segment at the rate of 7-8 percent only in India and this is unlike the milk and aqua industry where the Government is always giving a helping hand and support by way of subsidies but there are always hurdles for the poultry industry.
Time and again we have requested for subsidy and electricity, imports, the tariff of additives, amino acids and this has never happened. He said the Telangana Chief Minister KCR has given Rs 2 subsidy on electricity tariff and he was the first man to make maize available in case of short supply. He requested people assembled there from other states to take this cue from Telangana and try to help out poultry farmers in their state as well. As for the 5 trillion economy envisaged by the central government poultry industry if addressed ell can give a substantial contribution from its side. He said this industry which makes lakhs of crores of contribution to the GDP is as big as the telecom industry. HE said the Indian Government apart from going for the 5 trillion economy should also address the health and the nutritional issues. In that case the poultry industry will also make great contribution to the 5 trillion economy as well as health and nutritional issues. He said that in case of agriculture the Government declares the Minimum Support price or cereals like corn, wheat, rice, soya. Poultry is the cheapest source of protein and whenever this sector has problems the Government does not come to the rescue. He requested the Central Government to also declare the MSP of the Chicken and eggs as it will be a moral-booster for this industry.
He said for the last so many years the layer industry is bleeding and had the Government come to the rescue of the layer industry and it could help by putting the eggs in the cold storage the industry could have recovered long back. He said in India we have all the required climatic conditions to support agriculture but in difficult times the Government takes care of the agriculture sector but not poultry. He said if the Government lends a helping hand India can definitely export the poultry to the Middle East. When it comes to vaccines and amino acids, e all know that vaccines are essential to keep the birds healthy and immunization of a particular strain in the right time will definitely help the production capacity of the poultry industry. He appealed for the availability of the vaccines for the prevailing poultry diseases in times of need. In case of amino acids there are only a handful of manufacturers in the world. Under the Make in India scheme, he sought permission from the Government to help in setting up amino acid production plants in India and even export it to other countries. Poultry sector forms 20 percent of the livestock sector in India. Indian poultry consumes 15MMT of corn and 5 MMT of soya and asserted that the doubling the income of the agricultural farmers should also apply to the poultry farmers. He urged the Government to at least help the poultry farmers in getting the remunerative price of their products.
On GM crops he said whether the Government is misunderstanding or we are not aware what the Government has understood because on one side they permit GMO cotton but on the other side they do not permit corn and soya and requested the Government officials to look into this and provide a fair level playing field. He said if GM crops are not allowed in India then how come the Government is trying to import poultry which has already been fed on GM crops?
When it comes to malnutrition and Mid-Day-Meals, eggs are given in Tamil Nadu, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh and this has given good inspiration to the children to attend schools as this is giving them better nutrition to perform better in life. He urged representatives of all states to include eggs in the Mid-Day-Meals. Next he talked on India’s rank on malnutrition and Human Development Index and to correct this poultry diets must be included.
On promotion of eggs and chicken, he said social media has become a big media for connectivity among people and here some people talk against the consumption of eggs and chicken. He urged people to use social media and take on people who create misunderstanding on poultry consumption. He said like Ravinder Reddy and NECC, we too should share the responsibility of promoting eggs and chicken on all platforms. He said the Government has come down heavily on the NGOs for misusing the funds allotted to them. He said these NGOs are working against the interests of the Indian poultry industry and telling people of the adverse effects of egg and chicken consumption. He praised the support of the present Central Government which addressed the issues of the Indian poultry industry.
He said the poultry industry went through a very rough phase on the issues of cage ban and thanked all the organizations for their collective effort like PFI, NECC and the local organizations and at his stage the Government too has understood the issues. He said the cage ban should be considered on the realistic parameter and the welfare issue too needs to be considered. He praised the transition of the poultry rearing of the past and to the respectable global status it has achieved now and this is all due to the sincere efforts of the private players. He said we have the best technology similar to the world standards then who are the NGOs to meddle in this sector. He said 90 percent of birds in -7 countries are in cage system then why is the Government in such a rush for cage ban besides this there is a lot of climatic difference between the European countries and India. He said to increase the per capita consumption of poultry the availability too needs to be guaranteed.
Mr Suresh Chitturi (Chairman IEC) welcomed the august gathering and spoke on consumption of eggs. He said that he was born on a chicken farm so eggs are closest to his heart. He said the global population is 7.6 billion and going to be 9.8 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100 and that is roughly at 8.3 crore people being added every year and 50 percent of this growth will be in countries like India, Pakistan and Indonesia. He said in the next 40 years we must produce food as we have produced in 8000 years and the most critical thing is protein. He said 190.7 million people were undernourished in India in 2014-2016. He explained about the triple burden of malnutrition. He said 50-59 percent of children below five year age are not growing well. He said one egg contains 6gm of protein and 14 essential elements. He said except Vitamin C you get everything from one egg. He laid emphasis on the importance of protein and all the amino acids for our body. He said 80 percent of Indians are protein deficient and not getting the recommended 60gm protein per day. He said that FAO ranks eggs pretty high as it has 97 percent protein.
The first technical session started with the deliberations of the speakers mentioned below.
Rick Kleyn, Specs Feed Consultant spoke on –“Strategies to address lameness issues in poultry.” HE stated that once the lameness issue crops in the birds, there are series of problems that affects the birds. The infected birds cannot adequately have the access to drinkers and the feed and this leads to poor feed conversion, decreased body weight and they are prey to cannibalism. Whether the bird is layer or broiler the bird output drastically decreases. It is always advisable to employ a regular veterinarian at the farm who can detect the lameness in its early stage and the right diagnosis and treatment can be made available for recovery.
Onkar Singh Batra specifically dealt on –“ Data management for profitable poultry farming.” He stated under the normal course of poultry production less people care to maintain the data of the birds at the farm. He stated that it is extremely important to make entries of various possible data record to ensure a systemic poultry production details at the farm. The compiled data provides sufficient data about the population of the various age groups, breed, vaccination, different composition of feeding for different age groups, disease history, FCR comparison etc. A comprehensive data also shows the performance of birds in a farm. Besides this on a larger scale it provides complete bird information at scores of farm in the area, state and the country level as well.
Vincent Guyonnet, FFI Consultants provided an exhaustive detail on –“Artificial intelligence on poultry.” He said we live in a very competitive time of market challenges. We must incorporate all available tools to enhance the artificial intelligence on poultry management and production at the farm. He said these days the technical advancement has reached such a stage that artificial intelligence facilitates to augment the production process and also adequate maintenance of the birds. He said b using the artificial intelligence the possibility of human error in farm management can be easily contained. HE said that the chicken business in the last 10 years grew by 41 percent and egg business by 34.4 percent ahead by any of the livestock production. He said we should congratulate ourselves for feeding such a large population worldwide and fighting malnutrition. He presented the world broiler and egg production statistics. He said the use of robots on farms gave the best results in term of hatchability, production, weight gain, aeration of litter, FCR. He said the robots also successful handle the welfare of the birds. HE said the robots at the farm also helped in ammonia reduction, improvement in environmental quality, sanitation and less stress for birds. He said the robot detects every danger or shortcomings at the farm with its sensor programmes stored in it. He said the robots collect the eggs from 30,000 birds from the floor at the farm. He stated that the robot provides the complete data of the birds at the farm and helps to solve it in time. He said the robots have excellent performance and give good results besides than the manual labour at the farm which results in huge reduction on labour costs.
The delegates and the speakers once again assembled for the second session wherein the speakers made their informative presentations.
Dr Vasudevan Gowthaman, Assistant Professor TANUVAS spoke on- “Respiratory diseases, their control impact and strategies for reducing it.” He said that the respiratory disease claim a major chunk of the extensive prevalent disease list. He said the timely treatment of the birds and initially recognising the symtoms can help save the birds at the farm only if a regular veterinarian is stationed at the farm. The respiratory diseases if not controlled or treated can cause 100 percent mortality which means complete loss for the poultry farmer.
He said the foremost loss causing disease in India is New Castle disease followed by low pathogenic Avian Influenza H9N2, Infectious Bronchitis, ILT, mycoplasma, collibacillosis, ORT and Aspergillosis. He said in the closed houses there is accumulation of ammonia hence scores of respiratory tract diseases in birds. He said the immno depressed birds are more liable to acquire respiratory tract disease in birds. He presented a detailed occurrence of different respiratory disease in varies parts of India.
Joseph Cherian, COO Swiggy spoke on-“Changing dynamics of food deliver system.” He said food procurement from the market by the consumer has seen a sea change in the recent years. He said with the advancement in the information technology, rising income groups lay the foundation of a fast changing scenario wherein food and other stuff were delivered at the footstep of the consumer at a fairly competitive price. He said that this change in attitude of the customer due to lack of time and also to save the roaming in the market, paved the way for the rise of various companies that provided service at the doorstep of the consumer. He stated that initially there were a few companies but now scores of them have mushroomed giving rise to competition and competing to provide best services in minimum time frame. He said this rise has revolutionized the society and on the whole the food delivery system.
After the tea break the delegates once again assembled for the question and answer round wherein the doubts of the assembled delegates were cleared b the technical experts.
Chetan Bhagat, Motivational Speaker spoke on motivation in life and how important it is in bringing about success. He said people lose hope as age progresses. He said it is easy to motivate children as they are bubbling with energy and expectations. He said it is important in life as to how you approach things. He said I am not the best writer but the best selling writer and that is most important. He said my goal is to create change and that is what for which I write. He said the rules for success in life and business is not fixed and you can win in life by changing the game.
He stated about Charles Darwin who focused on survival of the fittest who adapt and change with the changing times. He said those who regularly change win in life. He gave the example of large dinosaurs and the rulers of earth, as ice started melting and they could not survive but the cockroach which was present in those times adapted to the changing situation and has survived till today. He explained in exhaustive detail on the success mantra. He said being adaptive hones your survival skills. He said eggs for example is considered non vegetarian diet in India but the reality is just the opposite as these eggs are not fertilized and we need to convince the Indian population about it as part of a marketing strategy. He said the idea and attitude of negativity is a big hindrance to success of an individual so one must adapt. He said try to do something different as doing the same thing every time will not guarantee you success in life. He said that we must let go our ego as it obstructs or reason to success.
After this session there was a luck draw programme followed by cultural programme, cocktail and dinner and thus ended a very informative session of Knowledge Day programme.
