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2012 - 20133
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Subject: Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension Education × End date: 2013 × Start date: 2012 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    NUTRITIONAL AND LIVELYHOOD SECURITY OF RURAL HOUSEHOLDS THROUGH BACKYARD POULTRY REARING IN ANDHRA PRADESH
    (SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA, 2012-02) SIVA PRASAD, V; THAMMI RAJU, D(MAJOR); SRINIVASA REDDY, M; RAGHUNANDAN, T
    ABSTRACT : 1. In India poultry farming under backyard system is as old as its civilization. Randhawa (1946) reported that number of terracotta have been discovered from Mohenzo-daro and Harappa, which indicated that, the people domesticated number of birds and the domestic fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus) originated in India and its ancestor's, the red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus) is still found in Northern India from Kashmir to Assam and in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Visakhapatnam and parts of Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. He also reported that the Indus valley people kept the fowl only for sports, and that its breeding for flesh occurred later. 2.Poultry farming became popular because of it is possible in widely different agro-climatic environment (National Commission on Agriculture 1976), as the Rural fowl possesses marked physiological adaptability, requirement of small space, low capital investment, quick return from outlay and well distributed turn over throughout the year make poultry farming remunerative in both rural and urban areas. The rearing of poultry provides an excellent opportunity for gainful employment to idle or unemployed members of rural communities. Additionally, chicken meat consumption is a significant protein source which helps to cover the nutritional needs of the rural population. 3.Backyard poultry farming (BYPF) by and large is a low input or no input venture and is characterized by indigenous night shelter (Berte 1987, Aklobessi 1990, Nkodia 1990, Singh and Johari 1990, Upindi 1990, Zoungrana and Slenders 1992, Dana 1998, Saha 2003), scavenging system (Kabatange and Katule 1989, Kassambara 1989, Musharaf 1989, Andrews 1990, Houadfi 1990, Lul 1990, Mbugua 1990, Okot 1990, Raveloson 1990), with little supplementary feeding (Singh and Johari 1990, Dipeolu et al 1996, Rangnekar and Rangnekar 1996, Dana 1998, Saha 2003), natural hatching of chicks (Singh and Pani 1986, Van Veluw 1987, Saha 2003), poor productivity of birds (AACMC 1984, Rao and Thomas 1984, Balaraman and Kaul 1985, Singh and Pani 1986, Berte 1987, Okada et al 1987, Musharaf 1989, Smith 1990, Abebe 1992, Agbede et al 1995, Rashid et al 1995), local marketing (Rehman 1995, Dana 1998, Saha 2003) and no health care practice (Dana 1998, Saha 2003). 4.Recently, the traditional poultry farming in villages, which was the primary source of animal protein, and supplementary income for more than 50 percent of the population of this country, has suffered in the wake of commercialization Singh(2000). One must remember that the cheapest egg and poultry is one which is produced in the backyard or semi-scavenging system. Consequently, due to the changing rural scenario BYPF has taken a back seat and unless we lay down a sound strategy, it would be impossible to revive this age old practice which is an important tool for nutritional security. Therefore, an appropriate strategy is necessary in BYPF for hitting two birds with one stone. Firstly, this would help alleviate the nutritional status of the rural people and secondly, we could have our stress-free, harmful residue free birds. 5.Every country is unique in itself, and so is the case of India. Extension principle has always highlighted the fact that every region and community is different from others. Lack of understanding of village chicken production system makes it difficult to design and implement poultry based development programme that benefit rural people (Gueye 1997, Pedersen 2002). Therefore, the strategy for rural Indian has to be worked out critically which can be modified and improved to fit the different regions of our country. 6.The other factor for decline in the interst of the backyard poultry rearing inrural areas because of commercial poultry in meat and egg production.So commercial poultry gain upper hand over rural poultry.beacuase of this commercial poultry gained momentum is one of the fastest growing segments of the agricultural sector in India today. While the production of agricultural crops has been rising at a rate of 1.5–2% per annum that of eggs and broilers has been rising at a rate of 6–10% per annum. National annual production is 45 billion eggs and 1.6 billion broilers. The percentage of native birds in the total poultry population has dropped from 50% about 30 years ago to about 10% now (Rangnekar and Rangnekar, 1999). Nevertheless, the meat and eggs of backyard chickens is highly valued than that of commercially produced meat or eggs. with prices being 50–100% higher, because their taste and texture are considered superior. They are equivalent of ‘organic’ egg or chicken in western and developed countries, and have a lower fat content than commercially produced eggs and birds. Further, backyard poultry production forms the basis for transforming the rural poultry sector from subsistence to a more economically productive base. Estimates of income elasticity for meat and eggs strongly suggest that consumption of these products can be expected to continue to grow strongly. However, per capita consumption of eggs in rural areas is less than half that in urban areas (Mehta et al., 2003). Trends in the poultry sector provide a striking example of how sector growth does not necessarily go hand-in-hand with rural sector and poverty reduction. Backyard poultry, which is based almost entirely on native birds, has been by-passed by the poultry revolution, with virtually all the growth occurring in the large-scale intensive sub-sector. Also, increased backyard poultry production would result in a positive impact on household food security both in increased dietary intake and in income generation. Hence, increasing meat and egg production from backyard poultry has been a major concern of Government of India (GOI) for many years. The GOI has supported various programmes to improve backyard poultry production. This has resulted in release of some important backyard poultry varieties viz., Vanaraja, Gramapriya, Giriraja, Krishna-J, etc., for the benefit of rural farmers’ economic upliftment, food security and gender empowerment. In the present study an effort was made to study the Nutritional and livelihood security of rural households through backyard poultry rearing in Andhra Pradesh. 1.1. NON DESCRIPTIVE BIRDS 1.Poultry farming is possible in widely different agro-climatic environment (National Commission on Agriculture 1976), as the fowl possesses marked physiological adaptability. Requirement of small space, low capital investment, quick return from outlay and well distributed turn over throughout the year make poultry farming remunerative in both rural and urban areas. The rearing of poultry provides an excellent opportunity for gainful employment to idle or unemployed members of rural communities. Additionally, chicken meat consumption is a significant protein source which helps to cover the nutritional needs of the rural population. 2. Backyard poultry farming (BYPF) by and large is a low input or no input venture and is characterized by indigenous night shelter (Berte 1987, Aklobessi 1990, Nkodia 1990, Singh and Johari 1990, Upindi 1990, Zoungrana and Slenders 1992, Dana 1998, Saha 2003), scavenging system (Kabatange and Katule 1989, Kassambara 1989, Musharaf 1989, Andrews 1990, Houadfi 1990, Lul 1990, Mbugua 1990, Okot 1990, Raveloson 1990), with little supplementary feeding (Singh and Johari 1990, Dipeolu et al 1996, Rangnekar and Rangnekar 1996, Dana 1998, Saha 2003), natural hatching of chicks (Singh and Pani 1986, Van Veluw 1987, Saha 2003), poor productivity of birds (AACMC 1984, Rao and Thomas 1984, Balaraman and Kaul 1985, Singh and Pani 1986, Berte 1987, Okada et al 1987, Musharaf 1989, Smith 1990, Abebe 1992, Agbede et al 1995, Rashid et al 1995), local marketing (Rehman 1995, Dana 1998, Saha 2003) and no health care practice (Dana 1998, Saha 2003). 3. Recently, the traditional poultry farming in villages, which was the primary source of animal protein, and supplementary income for more than 50 percent of the population of this country, has suffered in the wake of commercialization Singh(2000). One must remember that the cheapest egg and poultry is one which is produced in the backyard or semi-scavenging system. Consequently, due to the changing rural scenario BYPF has taken a back seat and unless we lay down a sound strategy, it would be impossible to revive this age old practice which is an important tool for nutritional security. Therefore, an appropriate strategy is necessary in BYPF for hitting two birds with one stone. Firstly, this would help alleviate the nutritional status of the rural people and secondly, we could have our stress-free, harmful residue free birds. 4. Every country is unique in itself, and so is the case of India. Extension principle has always highlighted the fact that every region and community is different from others. Lack of understanding of village chicken production system makes it difficult to design and implement poultry based development programme that benefit rural people (Gueye 1997, Pedersen 2002). Therefore, the strategy for rural Indian has to be worked out critically which can be modified and improved to fit the different regions of our country. Mostly in the rural areas the There does not appear to be any problem in marketing of local poultry. Most of the households dispose off their produce like eggs or chickens in nearby markets, whereas, those away from the towns sell at their door steps. Although it may vary from family to family, half of the chicken raised are consumed by the owners at the time of festivals or during the visit of their guests. Poultry birds are also given as gifts in marriages and other functions and used in religious ceremony. The chickens are usually sold either for table purpose or as game birds for fighting. The fighting cocks fetch a premium rice usually 2 to 3 times higher than those which are sold for table purpose. The requirement of fighting cocks ,however, is limited and that too at festive occasions. People of costal districts have passion for rearing gaming birds which are having huge demand during the festive periods where people will make lot of money through rearing this game birds.,. Same situation more or less is encountered in other districts. Almost all the eggs produced are used for hatching and not a single one is consumed in except in summer months where hatching eggs become quickly spoiled due to early embryonic death resulting in poor hatchability.. but in some parts which are adjacent to city markets more than 50 percent of the eggs are sold. Great variation is observed among the villages for scavenging area and those with higher scavenging areas realize more money from the sale of their birds which are healthy. Predation by wild cats and other wild animals is a problem in most of the villages situated either near or within the forest area. Although no definite evidence is available about the origin of different populations/local breeds, ethnic tribal groups seem to have played a significant role for development and maintaining the uniqueness of the breeds nurtured by them for years without any introgression from outside. In some parts where the backyard poultry rears in nearer to forests and in hilly areas naturally the livestock especially backyard poultry is having high disease resistance and the outbreaks of ranikhet and fowlpox are very rare. For ethnic tribal groups and communities indigenous poultry are of special interest because of their socio-religious use. Plumage colour and sex of the bird differ from one purpose to another .Raising of local poultry breeds in backyard is an important source of livelihood for the rural people. 63% of the owners of the backyard poultry in the agency area are Scheduled Tribes, 17%Scheduled Castes and rest 20% owned by OBCs and other communities. Small holdings containing1-3 hens per unit were found to be more efficient producer of eggs compared to those with 4 or more hens per unit. Main interest of the poultry farmers having backyard poultry is not production of eggs as returns are very low from sale of eggs. They hatch all their eggs and sale them as birds.. The major problem of the backyard poultry sector is high mortality. Average annual income from backyard poultry is Rs.2200 per house hold although the variation across.households is very large. When mortality is reduced, income per household increases.Poultry keeping in backyard gives very high return as the investment is very low. The local breeds of poultry / indigenous poultry genetic resources are held in high esteem even after 50 years of industrial poultry production because of the following reasons. 5) Local poultry breeds exhibit superior adaptability in their habitat and possess the ability to survive, produce and reproduce on low plane of nutrition and sub-optimal management. b) The inputs required are very small as they scavenge their feed requirements and are raised with little veterinary care. 6 ) They possess the ability to protect themselves from predators. 7) All the local breeds show broodiness and hatch their own chicks making the system auto generating. 8) People have a preference for eggs and meat of indigenous poultry compared to those realized from farm-bred chickens consequently eggs and meat from local breeds are sold at a premium price. 10) Cock fighting is a popular sport for the ethnic tribes and the local breeds are superior to exotic breeds in fighting. 11) Use of coloured bird for socio-religious use. Livestock output at present accounts for more than half of agricultural production in developed countries and one-third in developing countries. The growing number of urban and more affluent population in the developing world including India, most likely will demand a richer, more diverse diet with more of meat and milk products. As a result, global demand will increase from 209 million tones in 1997 to 327 million tones in 2020 for meat to a strong livestock revolution. Industrial poultry production could be fastest growing sector with an expected increase in output of about 80 per cent until 2020 due to its high rate of reproduction, superior FCR and universal production technology. The other Livestock commodities are expected to grow @ 50 percent per year during the same period. Other factors which will contribute to growth of poultry industry in India subcontinent include; increase in growth of human population. 50 geographical shifting of production centers to developing countries like China, India, Brazil and Mexico due to stringent animal welfare measures adopted in the industrial west; improvement in poultry production technologies; policies and initiatives recently undertaken by the Government of India to promote rural backyard poultry production through venture capital fund etc. The demand for organic egg and meat is increasing over the years especially in the industrially developed Western countries even though they cost more and cut through the wallet. Small holder backyard poultry production utilizing local breeds therefore is expected to increase the profitability of this system of production, but the super markets will benefit.Smallholder backyard poultry production utilizing local breeds sooner or later is expected to come under serious competition with the commercial poultry sector and if not well planned the genetic resources of local poultry shall be lost, as it has already happened in most of the developed countries. Conservation of local poultry breeds along with improvement for traits like meat and eggs will increase competitiveness to survive in the market. The socio-religious use of local poultry breeds, superior adaptability in their habitat, ability to perform in tow input production system and the production system which is similar to organic production will he the competitive advantages of backyard system over commercial poultry production. The government, however, should extend all support to this system of production since this is a means of livelihood of poorer sections of the society and will help in food production, food security, gender equity and providing employment to women. Improvement of local breeds and their conservation for future use also should be the joint responsibility of the Government and farming community.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    EFFECTIVENESS OF MOBILE TELEPHONY IN DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION AMONG LIVESTOCK BASED WSHGs – AN EXPLORATORY STUDY
    (SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA, 2013-08) TEZA, JILLELLA; SUBRAHMANYESWARI, B(MAJOR); THAMMI RAJU, D; RAJANNA, N
    ABSTRACT: To study the effectiveness of mobile telephony in dissemination of information among livestock based WSHGs in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, an exploratory research design was adopted. A total of 90 WSHG members were selected randomly from 15 livestock based WSHGs of three mandals selected purposively in the district. A structured interview schedule was used to assess the effectiveness of mobile telephony in dissemination of information among livestock based WSHGs. Data on knowledge levels was measured twice i.e., before and after the information dissemination as Text and Voice SMS through mobile telephony. The data was collected personally with the help of an interview schedule which was processed, analysed and interpreted. The profile of WSHG members of the study area indicated that most of the WSHG members were of middle age and with less formal education. Almost all belong to Hindu religion and majority belongs to BC category. Majority of the respondents were marginal farmers and for about half of the respondents, animal husbandry was the main occupation. Most of the members possessed buffaloes followed by cattle and have medium level of family income. Majority of the members were with medium level of innovativeness and among different information sources, family, Mahila Mandal Samaikhya and mobile phones were mostly contacted informal, formal and mass media sources, respectively. Half of the respondents own mobile, whereas, other half of the members had access through their family members. Two-third of the respondents were using mobile for more than 2 years. SMS was mostly used feature of mobile by majority members and one-third of the members of WSHG were in habit of checking SMS daily. Voice SMS was preferred to text SMS and evening time was the most preferred time for receiving SMS. Though cent per cent were having access to mobiles, only few were aware that scientific information can be received through mobiles. Many felt that it is good to pay for mobile advisory services for worthy information which improves the productivity of their farms and also opined that advisory services through mobiles can be charged reasonably. Health care, breeding, feeding, management and public health issues were the broad areas among which specific areas like treatment of simple ailments, tips of feeding to improve productivity, reproductive disorders, care and management of calves, zoonotic diseases, vaccination and general management of animals and Artificial Insemination were mentioned as the most information needed areas. SMS modules, 15 in number were designed and developed in both text as well as voice forms out of the identified information needs of WSHG members and broadcasted in bulk with the help of Kisan Sanchar, Haryana in two cycles i.e., for a period of 30 days. The responses of WSHG members were collected before and after broadcast of SMS and the effectiveness of mobile telephony was studied in terms of percentile change in responses and the knowledge levels. During first cycle of SMS broadcast, more than half of WSHG members attended to voice SMS and less members attended text SMS comparatively. Very less number of respondents could attend text and voice SMS in both the cycles. Regarding attributes of SMS broadcasted, all felt them as timely information, three-fourth perceived them useful in farming activities and also expressed interest in SMS broadcasted. Majority were of the opinion that the SMS were simple, understandable, without any discrepancies and were of the nature of reinforcing knowledge and action. More than three-fourth of the members opined that SMS were suitable for information dissemination and also interested in receiving such kind of SMS in future also. Text SMS were of optimum length and with clarity as expressed by many, however, not interested in receiving SMS more than once. As members could utilize family members for knowing information inspite of their illiteracy, no one felt that SMS encourages literacy. Voice SMS duration was felt as optimum, whereas, speed of voice delivery was medium and clarity of voice was good. All felt that both forms of SMS were equally important, and many expressed that voice SMS motivates action than text SMS and there will be reinforcement of action if text SMS followed by voice SMS. Significant changes in knowledge levels were seen among the WSHG members before and after broadcast of SMS. In the area of health care, remarkable response change was seen in the respondents after the mobile telephony; 26 to 48 percent in case of mastitis and its preventive measures, milk fever incidence and its symptoms, vaccination schedule, causes of indigestion and preventive measures. In breeding area, the response changes ranged from 34 to 60 per cent in case of causes of repeat breeding and measures to be taken care during incidence of prolapse, after the dissemination of information through mobile telephony. In case of feeding marked changes were seen: advantages of feeding chaffed fodder brought changes about 20 to 58 percent and also in role of balanced feeding in maintenance of fat percentage of milk. Significant changes in percentile responses (32 to 51%) were observed in the areas like time of Artificial Insemination, care of new born calf and de-worming age of calves. Among public health issues, SMS broadcasted about zoonotic diseases brought remarkable percentile changes in the responses of the members of WSHG of the study area, i.e., 45 to 68 per cent. The overall effectiveness showed significant changes in knowledge levels of the members of WSHGs. Lack of immediate interaction for better understanding the text SMS, missing of human element, lack of practical exposure to the information, lack of mobile compatibility for receiving SMS in vernacular language, illiteracy, apprehensions about the messages transmitted, receiving SMS during busy time and lack of understanding of messages with complicated sentences and more number of messages were the constraints experienced by the respondents in receiving information through text SMS. Voice message was not repeated in case not understood properly, could not hear the message properly due to poor network, voice modulation was not good, message was not giving any impact, message was not appealing, quality of message was not good and content of the message was not new were the constraints experienced by the respondents in receiving information through voice SMS. Suggestions as given by the respondents were that it would be convenient to have the mobile telephony at specific days in a week, follow-up service was required, it would be better if used with other ICT like Radio, Television etc. and it would be good to have a re-broadcast, if the caller could not be able to attend it at the time of broadcast. The significant results obtained with mobile telephony through text and voice SMS can be suitably employed to cater to the information needs of livestock farmers by ensuring new communication technologies work within the prevailing physical, socio-economic, cultural and institutional conditions. However, the nature of mobile telephony development for farmers itself is highly contentious and requires careful research and development to make rightful use, especially when it comes to livelihoods improvement and poverty reduction.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    A STUDY ON SHEEP FARMING PRACTICES AMONG THE TRIBAL FARMERS IN SRIKAKULAM DISTRICT
    (SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA, 2013-09) TRINADHA RAO, J; SRINIVASA REDDY, M(MAJOR); THAMMI RAJU, D; KISHAN KUMAR, M
    ABSTRACT : An ex-post-facto research design was adopted for the present study conducted in Srikakulam of Andhra Pradesh. 120 sheep farmers were selected randomly from 12 villages of 3 mandals. A structured interview schedule was used to ascertain the knowledge and adoption levels of sheep farming practice. The data were collected personally with the help of an interview schedule; processed, analyzed and interpreted. The general profile of sheep farmers of the study area indicated that majority (69.17%) of the sheep farmers belonged to middle age group, illiterates (80.00%) and all belonged to Schedule Tribes with joint families (81.67%) having family size upto five members (67.5%). Three fourths (72.50%) of sheep farmers had medium experience in sheep farming with a average of 24.36 years. Agriculture is the major occupation for 68.33 per cent of the respondents and animal husbandry remains a subsidiary occupation among all the respondents of the study. Nearly half of the shepherds lived in Kutcha houses (50.83%) and 70.83 percent had medium material possession and 85% were members of one organization. Majority of tribal sheep farmers had low income (60 percent) and found of rearing local varieties of sheep. Majority (68.33%) of the respondents belonged to low social-economic status. Television was most favored among the mass media sources but majority (70.00%) had low mass media exposure. Medium achievement motivation (51.66%), risk orientation (45.83%) rational decision-making ability (53.33%) and low scientific orientation (65.00%) was found among the respondents. Majority (54.16%) of the sheep farmers had low knowledge level in sheep farming practices and more than half (50.83%) of the respondents were in low level of adoption. Independent variables viz. age, socio-economic status, mass media exposure were positively and significantly correlated with knowledge at 1 percent level of probability while rational decision making ability was correlated at 5 percent level of probability. Age, socio-economic status and mass media exposure had shown positive significant relationship with adoption of sheep farming practices at 1 percent level probability and achievement motivation and scientific orientation were correlated with adoption at 5 percent level of significance. The constraints as perceived by respondents in the order of priority were a) Inadequate knowledge in preparing balanced feed (100.00%), b)Unhygienic maintenance of farm animals (93.33%), c) Lack of awareness on fodder cultivation (92.50), d) High cost of concentrate feeds (90.83), e) Inadequate knowledge in breeding practices (90.00%), f)Negligence in care of pregnant animals (90%), g)Vaccination undertaken only during the out breaks (74.16%), h) High cost veterinary medicines (68.33%), i) Lack of knowledge on weaning of newborn lambs (45.83%), and j) Inadequate supply of veterinary medicines at hospitals (14.16%). Certain suggestions such as a) Distribution of the government lands to the landless farmers for cultivation of pasture grasses, b) Increase educational activities for getting more awareness on scientific knowledge on sheep farming practices, c) Extension agencies should frequently motivate the farmers in adopting the sheep farming, d) Provision for more subsidy for purchase of ewes and rams e) Periodical training programmes should be organized by the extension agencies, f) More technical input supply by the extension agencies, etc were voiced by respondents.