Coastal Andhra poultry segment hatches Rs 1,463cr turnover

Fiscal 2004-05 will end on a happy note for the poultry farmers in coastal Andhra. The farmers here have achieved an overall turnover (layers plus broilers) of Rs 1,462.88 crore with increased profits.

While P Sankara Rao, member of the Andhra Pradesh Poultry Federation (APPF) has put the layers (eggs plus cull birds) segment's turnover for the year at Rs 1,110.08 crore, G Bucha Rao, president of All India Broiler Farmers Marketing Cooperative Limited (AIBFMCL), Krishna region, calculated the broilers (birds for meat) segment's trade at Rs 352.8 crore.

Speaking to Business Standard, Sankara Rao said that while the layers (eggs) segment brought nine per cent profit for farmers in the last fiscal, they earned an 18 per cent profit this fiscal.

"About 2,000 farmers in the eight coastal Andhra districts are engaged in the layers segment and grow three crore chicks a year. On an average, they supplied 2.4 crore eggs a day in the current fiscal, totalling the annual turnover at Rs 1,054.08 crore. This excludes the additional business of Rs 57crore they made by selling cull birds (killed layers) at the rate of Rs 18-20 per bird (Rs 12 per bird in 2003-04). They earned profits mainly due to the fall in the feed cost by 50 paise per kg. The average price per 100 eggs remained steady at Rs 119.11 throughout the year (Rs 118.45 per 100 eggs in 2003-04)," he said.

As 80 per cent of the farmers prepared the feeds all on their own, they also saved a lot, adding to their margins, he said.

"No eggs have so far been exported from coastal Andhra to other countries. If the proposed Agri Export Zone at Rajahmundry turns into reality, it would revolutionise the poultry industry in the coastal Andhra," he added.

Bucha Rao said that the farmers in the coastal Andhra districts sold 49-50 lakh broilers (birds for meat) every month with Visakhapatnam turning out a maximum of eight lakh birds, Krishna, Guntur, Nellore and the two Godavari districts 6 lakh birds each, Vizianagaram and Prakasam 4 lakh birds each and Srikakulam 3 lakh birds.

The annual turnover achieved by the broiler segment in these eight districts is estimated to be around Rs 352.8 crore this fiscal, representing a 10 per cent increase as compared to last fiscal.

He said that although in the beginning of the year, the industry incurred a loss of Rs 16 crore between February and March 2003-04 due to the bird-flu scare created among the chicken eaters, things improved later. The average cost of the bird, however, hovered around Rs 60 (Rs 50-60 in 2003-04), with Rs 4 as profit per bird for farmers.

"The peculiarity of broilers market is that it touches peak levels every two months and falls in the next two months. Prices of main feeds fell which helped farmers earn profits," he said.

About 400 farmers grow broilers in Krishna and Visakhapatnam districts, 200 farmers in Guntur, 250 farmers in West Godavari, 150 in East Godavari, 100 farmers each in Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts and 50 farmers each in Nellore and Prakasam districts.