Impact of rearing-improved backyard poultry on the rural households in Puducherry

The impact of rearing improved backyard poultry (BYP) Swarnadhara, strain was studied among the 50 interested households selected from eight villages of Puducherry region. Bennett's hierarchy was adopted to study both formative and summative impact. All the respondents purchased chicks after undergoing training in the college farm. They acquired skills in rearing day old chicks and showed change in practices like adopting artificial brooding, supplementing with vitamin and antibiotic, seeking extension advice, feeding the weak birds separately. The housewives played a major role in rearing the birds although majority men attended the training. During the study period (6 months), a total of 3, 591 chicks were purchased in eight batches from Bengaluru. Out of this, 2, 174 were sold and 763 were dead. The first batch of 62 hens produced 2, 950 eggs in 6 months. The number of birds sold or gifted were 345 and consumed were 23. The total value of the eggs produced and birds sold or consumed was estimated to be Rs. 1, 02, 312. The major constraint in rearing these birds was the difficulty in protecting them from predators and thieves. Rearing of Swarnadhara birds had improved the availability of eggs and chicken in the BYP families and hence need to be encouraged. The study also identified the conditions essential for exploiting the genetic potential of the improved strains in rural areas.