Date:01/11/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/11/01/stories/2005110101051200.htm

Back Recognise poultry as farm enterprise: Swaminathan

Our Bureau

Hyderabad , Oct. 31

PROF M.S. Swaminathan, Chairman of the National Commission on Farmers, has asked the Government to recognise poultry as an agricultural enterprise. This will go a long way in promoting multiple livelihood options for the rural poor.

Addressing the first M.S. Swaminathan Award Function, he said the commission would make a recommendation in this regard.

"The poultry industry has been seeking such a recognition for quite sometime. There is a large potential for small producers in the rural areas to take up backyard farming. We need to promote multiple livelihood options to help the rural poor," he said.

Referring to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh's statement that the country should aim for four per cent growth in agriculture to achieve an eight per cent growth in GDP. He said to achieve this, a growth rate of eight per cent should be achieved in animal husbandry.

He also suggested that the country should have a livestock food corporation of India to support self-help groups in rural areas to take up fodder production and sett up feed banks. This could pave the way for a national grid of producers.

Mr Sushi Kumar Shinde, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, presented Dr G.L. Jain, Managing Director of Venco Research and Breeding Farm Ltd, with the maiden award instituted by the Retired ICAR Employees Association for 2004-05.