SRINAGAR: The Federation of Chambers of Industries Kashmir (FCIK) has sought Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s intervention for revival of Jammu and Kashmir’s struggling poultry industry, calling for a time-bound policy to protect existing investments and strengthen local production.
The Federation said the sector was facing a structural cost disadvantage due to its dependence on outside supplies for day-old chicks, poultry feed and other inputs, besides higher transportation, climatic and mortality-related costs.
According to FCIK, local poultry production had once increased from around 15 per cent of consumption to more than 85 per cent following supportive policy measures, including a Rs 9 per kg levy on poultry entering J&K.
It said the subsequent withdrawal of the protective mechanism, without an effective alternative, had reversed the gains, with industry representatives now estimating the local share at only 15–20 per cent of total consumption.
The Federation said local farmers were also facing competition from large integrated companies that benefit from economies of scale through captive hatcheries, feed mills, processing facilities and established marketing networks.
“Farmers who had invested heavily in land, sheds and equipment are either shutting down operations or being reduced to contract rearers in their own establishments,” FCIK said.
It clarified that it was not opposed to contract farming but called for fair, transparent and adequately regulated agreements to protect independent local entrepreneurs from one-sided conditions related to feed conversion, mortality, placement of chicks and payments.
FCIK has urged the government to constitute a high-powered expert committee under the concerned minister, comprising representatives of relevant government departments, the Animal Husbandry Department, J&K Bank, SKUAST-K, FCIK and poultry farmers.
The committee, it said, should prepare a time-bound Poultry Revival and Development Plan for Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the Federation, the plan should examine a legally sustainable mechanism to create a level playing field for local producers, promote hatcheries, feed mills, breeder farms and processing facilities within J&K, strengthen veterinary, bio-security and food-safety checks on incoming poultry, regulate contract farming and facilitate financial restructuring of viable stressed farms.
It also called for affordable working-capital support for existing poultry entrepreneurs.
While welcoming the government’s plans to expand poultry farming, FCIK said setting up new units alone would not address the sector’s problems unless the underlying economics were corrected.
“It would be anomalous to incentivize the creation of hundreds of new poultry units while entrepreneurs who already possess land, sheds, equipment, experience and established infrastructure are unable to operate viably,” the Federation said.
It stressed that revival of existing farms and establishment of new units should form part of the same poultry-development strategy.
FCIK said the government should work towards rebuilding the entire poultry value chain within J&K, from chicks and feed to farming, processing and marketing, to reduce dependence on supplies from outside the Union Territory.
The Federation has also requested the Chief Minister to convene a meeting of all stakeholders and set measurable targets for progressively increasing J&K’s share in its own poultry consumption.
“Jammu & Kashmir has already demonstrated its capacity to move close to self-sufficiency in poultry production. What was achieved once can be achieved again,” FCIK said, adding that protecting existing investments and restoring viability to local farms would support employment, entrepreneurship and food security.
