FCIK seeks CM’s intervention to revive J&K poultry industry

Calls for time-bound revival plan, level playing field for local producers

Srinagar, September 28: The Federation of Chambers of Industries Kashmir (FCIK) has sought the personal intervention of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for revival of Jammu & Kashmir’s struggling poultry industry, warning that continued erosion of indigenous production could lead to loss of local investment, employment and entrepreneurial capacity while increasing dependence on supplies from outside the Union Territory.

FCIK said the poultry sector demonstrated how appropriate policy intervention had previously enabled Jammu & Kashmir to move towards greater self-reliance.

According to poultry industry representatives, local production had increased from around 15 per cent of consumption to more than 85 per cent during a period when supportive measures, including a ₹9-per-kg levy on incoming poultry, helped offset the higher cost of local production.

The Federation said withdrawal of the protective mechanism without an effective alternative had subsequently reversed these gains, with industry representatives now estimating the local share at only 15–20 per cent of total consumption.

Structural cost disadvantage

FCIK said the issue was not merely competition from poultry arriving from outside J&K but also the structural cost disadvantage faced by local farmers.

Producers in Kashmir remain substantially dependent on outside sources for day-old chicks, feed and several other inputs, while also facing climatic, transportation and mortality-related disadvantages.

Large integrated companies, by contrast, benefit from economies of scale through captive hatcheries, feed mills, processing facilities and established marketing networks, the Federation said.

FCIK expressed concern that an increasing number of local farmers who had invested heavily in land, sheds and equipment were either shutting down their operations or being reduced to contract rearers in their own establishments.

Calls for fair contract farming

The Federation clarified that it was not opposed to contract farming as an economic model, but stressed that contracts must be fair, transparent and adequately regulated to prevent independent local entrepreneurship from being progressively extinguished.

It said farmers should be protected against one-sided conditions relating to feed conversion, mortality, delayed placement of chicks, payment and other commercial risks.

Expert committee proposed

FCIK has urged the Government to constitute a high-powered expert committee under the concerned Minister, comprising representatives of the concerned Government departments, Animal Husbandry Department, J&K Bank, SKUAST-K, FCIK and poultry farmers.

The committee, it said, should be mandated to prepare a time-bound Poultry Revival and Development Plan for Jammu & Kashmir.

According to FCIK, the plan should examine:

• A legally sustainable mechanism for creating a level playing field for local producers;

• Development of hatcheries, feed mills, breeder farms and processing facilities within J&K;

• Strict veterinary, bio-security and food-safety checks on incoming poultry;

• Fair regulation of contract farming;

• Financial restructuring of viable stressed farms; and

• Affordable working-capital support for existing entrepreneurs.

New units and revival of existing farms

While welcoming the Government’s plans for expansion of poultry farming, FCIK said creation of new units alone would not achieve the desired results unless the underlying economics of the sector were addressed.

“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. Revival of existing farms and establishment of new units must form two sides of the same poultry-development strategy,” FCIK said.

The Federation said the broader objective should be to rebuild the complete poultry value chain within Jammu & Kashmir—from chicks and feed to farming, processing and marketing—instead of remaining dependent on outside supplies.

FCIK has also requested the Chief Minister to convene a focused meeting of all stakeholders and prescribe 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. Protecting existing investment, restoring viability to local farms and building an integrated poultry ecosystem would simultaneously serve employment, entrepreneurship and food-security objectives,” the Federation said.