The introduction of new poultry products and perceptible shift in eating habits are moving people to branded food

such as chicken yummiez, cold cuts, br eaded and coated snacks, marinated snacks, chicken nuggets, canned chicken curry , freeze dried chicken pulao, meat soup, powder omlette and scrambled egg mixtur es, sandwich, pizza, burger and dial-a-chicken and fast food joints, Kentucky Fr ied Chicken (KFC), McDonald's, Wimpy, Pizza Hut all these are going to change th e palatability of the chicken consumer. Medical uses Chicken eggs are used to produce source of molecules to treat snakebite. Duck embryos are used in manufacturing anti-rabies vaccine. Diet eggs or design er eggs are going to boost special eggs for vitamin E substitution, Omega fatty acids and antioxidant requirements. Poultry eggs and meat have got sensorial, cu rative, nutritive and therapeutic potential. Poultry is labour intensive and has a potential to create 25,000 more jobs on the consumption of one more egg per c apita and similarly 25,000 additional jobs on the consumption of 100 gm more chi cken meat. By the year 2010 India is expected to produce 260 million layers (77700 million eggs) and 3500 million broilers (5.9 million tonnes). Per capita consump tion of meat will be around 3.5 to 4.5 kg and eggs will be around 65 and it is e xpected to contribute Rs 60,000 crore. No agriculture sector is growing as fast as the Indian poultry, making it the most dynamic rapidly emerging sector of liv estock economy. The export of poultry meat at present is worth Rs 150 crore and is expected to reach Rs 1,500 crore by 2010. Indian agriculture contributes 28 p er cent to the GDP of which 17% is contributed by poultry. Poultry is the only i ndustry where modern technology co-exists with the traditional poultry keeping b ecause poultry technology is appropriate, adaptable, accessible, available and a ffordable both for the rich and the poor. Recent positive developments of poultry industry NABARD has committed to bring about rural prosperity through poultry. Meeting of sub-group of poultry has asked for funds of Rs1095 crore for poultry development during the 11th Plan and Rs 30,000 crore for the entire livestock se ctor under various schemes of the Government of India. India has resumed egg export. IFC (Washington based International Finance Corporation) picked up stake in Sugu na Poultry farms. Suguna Poultry paves the way for North Indian expansion and in troduces dial-a-chicken concept to promote value added products. Thousands of br oiler farmers will reap the benefit. Venkateswara Hatcheries has decided to use tennis to promote their brand Venky's . Poultry farmers to get maize on concessional rate to use it as feed in poultry. Kerala livestock development board chalked out plan for poultry tourism in Munna r. Poultry litter to fetch carbon credit in Andhra Pradesh with 3.5 mw power plant. Godrej Agrovet Ltd introduced wide range of processed chicken in the brand name of Godrej Real Good Chicken. The poultry production and consumption in the domestic market is slated to grow. Indian poultry industry has been a major contributor to the food-proces sing sector in the country. From backyard activity to major commercial operation the poultry sector has undergone a paradigm shift. Indian poultry industry has been growing at annual varying rates of 8-1 5% and this growth in the past few decades made India fifth largest producer of eggs and ninth largest producer of poultry broiler. At present the industry is e stimated at over Rs 30,000 crore and is expected to grow over Rs 60,000 crore by 2010. India produces 1,400 million chickens a year, which is close to 27 mill ion a week, of which 95% is traded alive. According to a market report the poult

ry production and consumption in the domestic markets is slated to grow by 66% t o approximately 2.3 million tonnes by 2010. Poultry sector is one of the fastest growing industries of the Indian ec onomy than any other sector contributing about $230 million to the Gross Nationa l Product. But in statistical terms the industry has reported a loss of over Rs 4,000 crore as an aftermath effect of the bird flu crisis. The contribution of the small rural farmers points out the importance of integration of the poultry farming and the allied sector. Suguna Poultry Farm i s the pioneer in poultry integration and contract poultry farming in India, with presence in nine states and membership of about 15,000 contract farmers. Suguna has set an example of integration and contract farming before the industry and has proved to be beneficial for the company. Integration could be the way forwar d for the entire industry towards expansion and success. Presently 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is permitted in the food processing sector. Also FDI in food retailing, covering dairy, poultry, marine, vegetables and fruits might help the entire food processing industry grow. Poult ry farming in India has transformed from a mere tool of supplementary income and nutritious food for the family to the major commercial activity generating the required revenue. The growth of the industry with steady production of 1,800 mil lion kg of poultry meat, 40 billion egg per year and employment generation of ab out 3 million people indicates the future prospects for the industry. Changing f ood habits, rising income of the middle class Indian, presence of private player s, rising market demand of the Indian poultry produce in the export market are s ome of the contributing factors to the growth of the industry.