INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY & PRACTICES TRANSFORMING INDIA’S POULTRY FARMING SECTOR

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY & PRACTICES TRANSFORMING INDIA’S POULTRY FARMING SECTOR

Ankit Kumar, Internship Student, Veterinary College & Research Institute Namakkal, TANUVAS, Chennai

Abstract

Poultry farming has been an integral part of India’s agricultural landscapes for centuries, providing a consistent source of income and nutrition to millions of people. In the last 2-3 decades, both egg and meat industry has registered significant growth, apart from that, technological interventions has been used to improve the economic traits like growth rate, livability, disease resistance, feed efficiency and egg and meat quality, etc. Significant impact of these modern technologies can be seen in the layer and broilers industry. Gene editing and RNAi technology for altering the sex of the embryo as per the requirement are bringing revolutionary changes in the poultry industry. Nutrigenomics, in ovo injection of nutrients to chicks before hatch, augmentation of nutrient bioavailability and formulation of low cost,  and balanced feed for poultry using software are also there. Manufacturing technologies for value addition have increased the variety, and shelf life of poultry products. Easy traceability and accountability using blockchain, Internet of Things etc. are some other the other advantages of incorporating technology in poultry industry.

Keywords: Gene, RNAi, Nutrigenomics, Augmented reality, Blockchain, Internet of Things.

Introduction

Poultry industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India and across the world. It is one of the most important segments of livestock, it plays an important role in country’s economy. This sector consists of many different levels of production, including breeding farms, hatcheries, feed factories, broilers and layer farms and processing plants. Significant growth has been registered in both egg and meat industry. The poultry sector has undergone an exemplar shift in structure and operation over the years with sizeable investments in selection, breeding, hatching, rearing and processing technologies. Indian poultry is self-sufficient, supported by a broad and strong genetic base. India ranks 3rd in egg production and 5th in meat production with total population of 851.81million (20th Livestock Census, 2019). The annual egg production is approximately 94.2 billion eggs with an average growth rate of 6% and the annual poultry meat production is 3.78 million tons with a growth rate of 8-10% (BAHS, 2018). The progress is in all sectors is due to the advancement of technologies in the management, nutrition and animal health care systems. Over the years, the successors of farmers now are with highly qualified and having double degrees, technical/engineering and even medical and veterinary professionals. The technologies used are such that they support higher rate and persistency of egg production, better feed efficiency, egg size, egg quality (internal as well as external) and livability.

The following are emerged as some of new trends in poultry farming:

The technologies that could disrupt future production and processing operations are:

Remote sensing: It allows visibility in real time on a number of factors, birds performance, conditions within poultry shed, & birds health. It also “alerts” to management if any parameters is not within the range. In this system describes an integrated solution for smart poultry monitoring using WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) and GPRS network.

Robotics and automation: It has potential to reduce labour forces and be on duty 24/7. It can save upto 50% of farmers time and improve working conditions. It uses artificial intelligence to help farmers make data driven decisions about broiler production. Artificial vision offers real time yield monitoring of high value chicken parts, allowing supervisors to immediately give feedback to employees.

Technicon composite housing gearboxes: It is corrosion resistant and blended with an antimicrobial material that doesn’t exhibit odour or staining in harsh environment.

Artificial intelligence: It not only improve efficiency but addresses other challenges also like to recognise any sound of distress to reach diagnosis, detecting early stage diseases, feed formulation, genetic selection, and hatchery management.

Technology in Egg sexing and sex altering area

Incubation and hatching of eggs are two important practices in egg laying industry and sexing is usually done after completion of hatching. As a result of which the male eggs are incubated and allowed to hatch.

The SELEGGT process: Gender identification in the hatching egg using the SELEGGT process is a unique, patented process for endocrinological gender identification in the hatching. It is a way to avoid chick culling. The 8 to 10 days incubated egg is checked if fertilized or unfertilized using sensor.

EggXYT CRISPR Gene Editing Technology:  This technology is used to add a genetic biomarker to the male chromosome of embryos inside an egg. Thus the  male chicks can be easily detected during the breeding/ hatching operation. The male egg glow when they go through a scanner specially developed by the eggXYt team. The incoming eggs are scanned and eggs with male embryos are diverted to food production (Thornton, 2018).

RNAi technology: RNA interference is a key intracellular mechanism regulating the function of cells, and in turn, organism. Altering the sex ratios in poultry is now possible using this technology (Kumar and Pandey, 2019b). It is capable of generating single sex populations. This manipulation is possible by modifying the activity of key sex-determining genes during embryonic stage. Development of testes in chicken embryo requires DMRT1, a Z-linked gene (Smith et al., 2009) and targeting this gene using retro virus delivered RNAi can induce the development of partial or complete ovaries thus producing genetic males (ZZ) with attributes of female. Similarly, female development requires aromatase expression in chickens (Lambeth et al., 2013).

Technology in nutritional domain

MAKEFEED POULTRY software: (Software for feed formulation). It is window based computer software developed by the scientists of ICAR- CARI, Izatnagar, Bareilly. It is used  to formulate low cost, efficient balanced feed for layer and broiler chickens, quails, guinea fowls, turkeys etc. for maximum production performance. Provides information on nutritive values for a wide range of feed ingredients.

Augmentation of nutrient bio-availability in non-conventional feedstuffs: Various technologies utilizing the physical, chemical and biological treatments are now available for augmenting nutrient bio-availability in non-conventional feed stuffs. Wet processing and reconstitution with or without enzymes, dry processing for feed hygiene, roasting, autoclaving, alkali and acid treatments, fungal treatment and fermentation of the feed ingredients. By adding microbial phytase in diets of broiler chicks, egg type chickens, guinea fowl and quails, phosphorus utilization can be significantly improved.

Technique of in ovo injection of nutrients: Using in ovo injection is a potential strategy for improving chickens’ hatchability and post hatch performance. This technique involves the injection of various substances, such as nutrients, drugs, or vaccines, directly into the egg during the incubation period (Bello et al., 2013; Li et al., 2016).

Nutrigenomics: Nutrigenomics is the study of how different diets, nutrients, and nutritional methods affect the genome. Using DNA microarray technology, we can begin to understand how nutrition influences gene expression and how this modulation relates to animal performance and health. It showed that its use can augment the same pattern of gene expression even if Vitamin E content in feed is reduced by as high as 80% thereby substantially reducing the cost of feed. Programmed Nutrition (PN) has made it possible to use nutrigenomics for delivering diets that can lower down the excretion of mineral, improve the antioxidant status of the birds, availing alternative feed materials, making the diet more cost effective and enhancing the quality of poultry egg and meat (Kumar and Pandey, 2019a).

Technology in poultry products domain

Technology for bringing Compositional changes: Technological advancements has led to an increasing attempt to change the composition of egg either by nutritional or genetic manipulation to meet the changing requirements of human beings like altering feed constituent.

Designer meat: It is designed to have some health benefits other than its traditional nutritional value. It is having higher levels of antioxidants (selenium, carotenoid pigments, vitamin-E, flavonoid compounds, and lecithin) and herbal active principles (Allicin, Betaine, Eugenol, Lumiflavin, Lutein, Sulforaphane, Taurine Eugenol, Lycopene, Curcumin, Carnosine, Quercetin) is attracting the focus of researchers and technologists (Sireesha and Prasanna, 2019). The main advantages with designer meat are- rich source of antioxidants, less susceptibility to lipid peroxidation, prevention of fishy taint to the product, increases the shelf life.

Designer eggs are rich in several vitamins like vitamin A and E. The micro mineral content (selenium, iodine, zinc, copper and chromium) in the yolk and albumen of such eggs can also be increased. Designer eggs are seen as a solution to the problems of iodine deficiency in India (Kaufmann et al., 1998). It is enriched with omega-3 Fatty acids, carotenoids, immunomodulators etc.

Manufacturing technology for value-added poultry products:

Advancements in technology has led to the coming up of various value  added products in the market. Value addition increases the taste, price as well as the shelf life of the product. Some such value added meat products are: cured and smoked chicken, chicken patties, chicken nuggets, intermediate moisture chicken meat, mixed chicken loaf, cooked chicken roll etc. similarly there are various value added egg products like pickled eggs, albumen rings, salted egg, egg strips, egg waffles, egg pancake, egg roll, egg crepe etc.

The manufacturing technologies have advanced to such an extent that now even the poultry slaughter by-products based pet food is available. life of about 4 months at room temperature.

Miscellaneous technologies in poultry industry

Virtual reality: Factory-based robotics in some poultry processing operations could allow workers to perform their jobs in safer environments. The Agricultural Technology Research Programme at the Georgia Tech Research Institute is looking at ways to incorporate automation solutions into the challenging poultry processing environment which is beset by high turnover rates. Food processing environments are often kept cold by design to prevent pathogen growth, but low temperatures and the physical demands of the job, coupled with Covid-19 outbreaks, have led to turnover rates of between 40 and 100% per year. To address this, the Agricultural Technology Research Programme (ATRP) is exploring ways to combine virtual reality with factory  based robotics in certain poultry processing operations.

Blockchain: It’s playing an increasing role in in the global poultry sector as companies look to enhance traceability. The technology is already in use in China and U.S. Soon it will form a massive part of the food industry’s future, driving quick changes (Alonzo, 2018).  Ripe is a food traceability blockchain that works on building trust and confidence in supply chains, aiming to improve brand integrity and greater food security. IBM is also developing a blockchain proof of concept (POC) for the US Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to help the agency look into how the technology can optimise export certification systems.

The Internet of Things: The collective network of connected devices and the technology that facilitates communication between devices and the cloud, as well as between the devices themselves. It enables farmers to remotely monitor temperature, humidity, ventilation, and other factors that can affect the health and well-being of the birds.

Conclusion

The growth of poultry farming can be visualized from its expansion from initial stage and transformation to industrial proposition over a period of six decades (1960- 2020). Its possible due to dedicated private poultry suppliers, farmers, technicians and poultry scientists who stood at every level of its growth facing many challenges and finding the solutions from time to time.  The automation has given boost to increase the operational capacity to many folds. A simple example is change over from deep litter to cage system, to present environmentally controlled units and introduction of automated feeding and watering systems. Application of computer based technologies in feed formulations, egg and meat production has brought revolutionary changes.

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Innovative Technology and Practices Revolutionizing India’s Poultry Farming Sector

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