Analysis of characteristics and improvement strategies of rural poultry farming in north western Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, India

摘要

Inthepresentstudyrural/backyardpoultryfarminginthestateofHimachalPradesh,Indiahasbeencharacterizedforflockcharacteristics,production,constraintsandimprovementstrategiesusingonfarminvestigationandpersonalinterviewthroughstructuredquestionnaire.Surveywasconductedin285householdsfromthreedistrictofstateadoptingstratifiedrandomsamplingtechnique.Thepredominantfeaturesofthesystemweretraditionalfreerangescavengingwithoccasionalsupplementation,conventionalnightshelter,nbsp;andsub-optimalmanagement.Surveyrevealedthatthemajorityoffarmersbelongtomediumsizedfamilynbsp;andwereeducateduptoprimarylevel(30.8%).Mostimportantreasonforbackyardrearinginthisregionofthecountryiseggproductionprimarilyutilizedforhouseholdconsumption.Meanaverageflocksizewas9.4±4.6,whereasannualeggproductionrangedfrom45to110.Farmerswereusingtheirindigenouswisdomforincubatingeggsandtheaveragehatchingoutabilityandchicksurvivalwas82.6and68.3%respectively.Marketingsystemissimpleanddirectandbirdswithparticularplumagepatternusedforreligiousceremonyfetchhigherprices.Lossesduetopredatorsnbsp;werethemajorconstraintsfollowedbydisease.Analysisofimprovementstrategiesindicatedthatvariousagenciesinvolvedadoptedmultifacetedapproachesresultinginstrengtheningofruralpoultryfarmingandcreationofdemandforimprovedbirds.TheperformanceofVanaraja,improvedvarietyforbackyardproductionanddifferentcrossesinvolvinglocalbirds,wassatisfactoryandtheyarewelladaptedtoruralpoultryfarming.Itcanbeconcludedthatsuitablepackageofpracticesforruralpoultryfarmingaddressingtheimportantissueslikediseasesmustbedevelopedandeffectiveextensionmessageaddressingsuboptimalmanagementmustbeincorporatedinstrategiesforimprovementinvillagepoultryfarming.