CBS officials say the nationwide survey is being carried out now as the Agriculture Survey 2012 had left out commercial poultry farming.
“In 2012, our poultry survey was household-based and didn’t reflect the overall state of the poultry industry in the country,” Rudra Suwal, deputy director general of CBS, told Republica, adding: “The current survey is directed solely on poultry farming done for commercial purposes and will give us the picture of the industry.”
For the survey, CBS will consider any farm with 500 or more chickens per annum as a commercial poultry farm.
“Nepal is independent when it comes to poultry products. However, we have no authentic data regarding commercial poultry. The final report of the survey will be crucial in helping identify the problems and prospects of the industry,” Suwal adds.
Make chicken affordable
According to him, the survey would also publish methods used by farmers in production of chicken and eggs, the problems they have been facing, the way they have been utilizing chicken manure and the quality of feeds that farmers have been using, and other details.
Ambika Basyal, director of CBS, says the survey is being carried out in all districts excepting some districts in the Himalayan region where commercial poultry activity is nominal.
“We first listed a rough data of poultry farming across the country obtained through more than 30 district chapters of CBS,” Basyal says, adding: “After work on the listing was completed, we deployed trained officials for fieldwork from March 4.”
Basyal opined that the fieldwork will be completed within the last week of April as almost 50 percent of fieldwork has been done. “If the survey work goes smoothly, we will be able to prepare the final report within the end of this Fiscal Year,” he says.
Officials of Nepal Poultry Federation (NPF) say an authentic report on the domestic poultry industry would play a crucial role in the development of the industry.
“Owing to a lack of enough knowledge among farmers regarding the industry, they are reluctant in investing in poultry farming,” Narayan Hari Khatri, first vice-president of NPF, told Republica, adding: “Once investors get the scenario of the industry, it will directly impact investment in the sector.”
Meanwhile, Khatri says he thinks the government might give special focus to the domestic poultry industry after survey report. Commercial poultry farming is concentrated in districts like Chitwan, Kavre, Dhading, Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, among others, he says.
