Book Review: Practical Skills on Backyard Poultry Production in India
GALVmed has been working on Newcastle Disease control in India for a while now. Together with our partners, have amassed a wealth of information on this devastating poultry disease that can wipe entire flocks during outbreaks. ND control is an important aspect of our work because chickens not only provide much needed nutrition but for many small-scale livestock producers, chickens provide access to family income. Alongside other small animals like goats and sheep, chickens are often nicknamed “ATMs” because they are convenient sources of cash.
In the tribal regions of Orissa, GALVmed worked with local partners to vaccinate birds against ND. These were accompanied by rigorous awareness creation activities and strengthening the vaccine supply chain so that small-scale farmers who needed the vaccine could easily access them. After a period of time, we started to get reports of ND outbreaks reducing and number of birds increasing. This change translated into economic and social benefits for small-scale producers. The livestock producers were now more likely to deal with other challenges such as lack of adequate space to house their ever-increasing flock, birds being preyed on by wild animals and other diseases such as Fowl Pox.
The wealth of information we have acquired together with our partners has been documented in various platforms including peer-reviewed journals that you can find in our database. One that I would like to highlight is a book written by a long-term partner and consultant for GALVmed, Dr Kornel Das. In the book, Practical Skills on Backyard Poultry Production in India, Dr Kornel has documented small-scale producers’ backyard poultry problems and solutions – from suitable breeds to alternate and low-cost housing and feeding and important diseases and their management. The book provides useful training guidelines for rural poultry vaccinators with just a few days of training. It is also a useful resource for veterinarians, paraprofessionals, poultry keepers as well as planners. Moreover, it is based on the experience and context of small-scale livestock producers.
In his experience, Dr Kornel has been working with tribal poultry keepers for many years on low-cost, high impact technologies including low-cost housing for birds, feeders and drinkers made from locally available materials such as bamboo and alternative source of bird food like azolla and white ant. Once regular vaccination against ND and Fowlpox as well as deworming were introduced, livestock producers started to see the benefits and gradually adapted to these new practices. Dr Kornel documents all that knowledge in this book which is also available in Hindi and Orissa.
All those who work in poultry health and production especially in south Asia will find this resource useful.
Blog written by Peetambar Kushwaha as part of the Poultry Health Campaign