Promotion of nutritional, economic and livelihood security through small-scale Giriraja backyard poultry farming

Abstract

The paper analyzed small-scale Giriraja variety backyard poultry farming by 120 farmers in Mysore and Mandya districts of India’s Karnataka state by considering economic, nutritional and livelihood securities. Data collected from 120 farmers on livelihood security with respect to income generation and increased dietary intake through backyard poultry farming. The majority of respondents were selling Giriraja backyard birds at 10-15 weeks age with an average body weight of 2.035 kg. Mean selling price of live birds and eggs was Rs. 58.4/kg and Rs. 3.29/egg, respectively. The respondents on average produced and sold 662 and 652 birds and 2108 and 2006 eggs, respectively. The average income earned was Rs.1385/month with a wide income range of Rs.220 to 6500/month. The average cost-benefit ratio of Giriraja poultry farming was 5.45. They were using the income for daily household expenses, increasing flock size, and children's education. Regarding nutritional benefits, each respondent’s family was consuming 16.08 kg of chicken and 117 eggs per year. Considering the average family size of 4 members, each household's consumption amounts to 4.02 kg of chicken and 29 eggs per year. Overall, backyard poultry farming helped the respondents as a tool in income generation and nutritional security, besides empowering them economically.