Problems and Prospects of Poultry Industry in Bangladesh

Book excerpt: Poultry is a substantial contributor to food supply of Bangladesh. Many small and medium farmers are rearing poultry birds in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is considered as one of the most appropriate countries in the world for poultry rearing. Development of poultry has generated considerable employment through the production and the marketing of poultry and poultry related products. Small improvements in this industry will, in productive and economic terms, give substantial increases to the benefits of the household may obtain from poultry, measured as a relative increase of output. In real terms, output may go up to $150 per year-a small amount of money, but in a situation where total income do not exceed $476 a year, such possibilities for improvement of livelihood deserve to be pursued. The revolution in poultry industry has achieved more than 200 percent growth last 5 years though they are facing scarcity of efficient or skilled workforce, mainly because of new technology, using locally available feed ingredients, breeding, hatching and other inputs. Having such potentiality for a long time, Bangladesh could not be able to prepare her human resources for this industry. If Bangladesh will be able to do so, the human resources can contribute much more than what they are performing now. It will generate much more protein in our domestic needs. This paper aims to show the picture of the growth of poultry industry, status of existing labor or workforces and some recommendations regarding its policy matter.