Losing game
Medication goes hand-in-hand with mechanisation. But the latter not only increases the vulnerability of the poultry stock, it also robs jobs and marginalises the unorganised rural backyard sector.
Though many experts agree that it is the intensive methods used in industrial poultry farming that is largely responsible for epidemics like avian flu, household or backyard poultry is suffering the most in the aftermath of the flu outbreak. This is because of the blanket culling the authorities have resorted to in Nandurbar. Though experts say that backyard fowl are less vulnerable because they are not crammed into small spaces and their more diverse genetic pool makes them more resistant, international agencies like who, fao and oie urge Asian governments to promote factory farming and clamp down on open markets where consumers can buy live poultry and fresh meat. This is on the grounds that confinement, as in western countries, offers better biosecurity and greater control over the disease can be achieved.
In Navapur, however, the 52 big farms have not been able to drive out a substantial network of backyard poultry. Almost all households in Navapur taluka rear hens in their backyard. Though most residents refuse to stake claim over these hens in the aftermath of the epidemic, on being questioned they admit that chicken and eggs are an integral part of their diet. "We are poor people working as daily wagers in poultry farms and earn Rs 30 a day. I have three desi hens and a few chickens in my backyard. We do not sell hens, but consume their eggs regularly. Once in a while, we also sell eggs in the local market, says Meeta Prakash Rathod of Khakraphali village, on the outskirts of Navapur. She used to work at Palawal poultry farm till it was closed down. She also adds that none of her hens are affected and they rarely fall ill because " desi hens and known to be stronger than poultry farm fowls'.
But the avian flu outbreak has been bad news for backyard poultry. The Navapur nagarpalika has been authorised to conduct house-to-house culling of birds. The Maharashtra government on February 22 claimed to have culled all household fowl within a radius of 10 km of Navapur. Neither the government nor international organisations seem to be alive to the fact that backyard poultry is crucial to the rural economy, providing livelihoods and nutrition.
That indiscriminate culling, experts say, may not be a good idea is a point some poultry-owners also admit. Though Pathan owns a poultry farm, he vouches for the health of backyard poultry. "Since desi chicken are kept in the open and are free to move around, they have a higher chance of adapting to weather changes. For instance, if they are out in the sun and feel the heat, they are free to move and come under shade. Hence they can adapt themselves as per the local weather conditions. But that is the not case with fowls in large poultry farms where there is less genetic diversity and where they are all housed in restricted enclosures. Hence diseases like the Ranikhet disease afflict poultry farm birds more,' he explains.
Women are predominantly responsible for the daily management of the poultry. They are also frequently owners and decision-makers. "From my experience in development, we have a big challenge in providing something concrete to poor women. But we do not see many options when it comes come to practical implementation. But poultry is certainly one possibility: the role of poultry is not only for profit, but as much an activity for poor women to start from,' Frands Dolberg, a professor at the University of Aarhus, in Denmark, told dte in an email interview. Poultry development adds to the gender toolbox and has much to do with entitlements and capabilities, he added. Dolberg has studied small-scale poultry projects in India and Bangladesh extensively for decades.
Bangladesh, for instance, has a very robust small-scale poultry sector, which supports more than 1.7 million women. The socio-economic impact studies conducted on these projects, financially supported by organisations like the World Food Programme and Danish International Development Agency, show remarkable improvement in the financial and health status of women in particular and people in general. For instance, poor families are now able to eat three meals rather than two or one meal during lean seasons. Consumption of eggs and chicken obviously made a big difference in their nutritional status, says Dolberg in a study entitled