Poultry is one of the fastest growing sub-sectors of animal husbandry; the annual growth rate of eggs being pegged around 6 per cent. India is the third-largest egg producer after China and USA and the fourth-largest chicken producer after China, Brazil and USA. The per capita eggs consumption has gone up from 30 to 68 and the chicken from 400 gm to 2.5 kg. Within a span of 25 years, the egg production has gone up to 70 billion from few millions and the broiler production has gone to 3.8 million tonnes from nowhere. Poultry is the most organised sector in animal agriculture, worth rupees one lakh crores. More than 80 percent of India's chicken output is produced by organized commercial farms.
India's consumers’ preference for freshly butchered chicken meat has however not curtailed the growth prospects of processed chicken meat and it is growing between 15 to 20 percent per year. This has driven sales not only in retail, but also fast food restaurants as well as the hotel, restaurant, and institutional sector. To meet this increased demand, the major poultry companies have been expanding their slaughtering and processing facilities, and they are offering the retail sector a wider range of processed chicken products such as frozen chicken burgers, salamis, nuggets, sausages, and tikkas, a local barbecue product. Chilled and frozen chicken parts are also now available in certain high-end groceries where more affluent consumers are willing to pay the 30 to 40% premium over wet market prices. In a thriving poultry market like India, International Conference on Poultry will help to address the opportunities and challenges existing in the market.
The Conference aims at achieving the following specific objectives:
