Poultry scheme revival on the cards

PRI approves purchase of 50,000 sacks of chicken feed

RAWALPINDI:

The Poultry Research Institute (PRI) Punjab, Rawalpindi has approved the purchase of 50,000 sacks of feed for new chicks at its 11 poultry centres across the province as it prepares for the resumption of the poultry project.

It has already sought written approval from Punjab’s caretaker government for the revival of the ‘Murghi Paal’ scheme using the department’s own funds owing to its success throughout Punjab.

The institute has submitted the PC-1 for the project, with the summary approved by the Punjab chief secretary. The approval included a ‘positive note’ for the caretaker chief minister. The PRI sources said the initiative would now be called “Murghi Paal Programme.”

For the purchase of sacks, it has allocated Rs232 million. Each sack of feed will weigh 50 kg. Two breeds – domestic and another local breed called contrast – will be bred on a large scale from this feed and raw material. The institute director has issued tenders, with the expected to be awarded on July 31.

The caretaker Punjab government had discontinued the programme rolled out by the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf led government that provided chickens at subsidized rates to develop the cottage industry.

Murghi Paal

Under this programme, four chickens and one rooster will be provided for Rs1200. In the previous iteration of the scheme, five chickens and one rooster were given for a similar amount.

Instead of increasing the price, due to inflation, the new initiative will provide one less chicken.

The chicks would be bred at 11 poultry centres in Punjab located in Rawalpindi, Attock, Deena, Gujrat, Sargodha, Mianwali, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Bhakkar. They would be distributed among those trying to benefit from the programme.

The initiative won’t cost the provincial government as the institute would use its own resources for it, the sources said. This will boost the department’s revenue and ensure that ‘residents can get fresh brown (desi) eggs at their doorstep daily’, they added.

The chickens bred at the institute are crossbreeds of three or four types of chickens at the PRI’s poultry farm. The best chicken is the cross between the real broiler (desi) chicken and the pure broiler (desi) chicken of Punjab.

Each year, a chicken produces between 230 and 240 eggs. Moreover, the institute claimed that the chicken feed is not purchased from the market, but are fed leftover fruit and vegetable from the kitchen, used tea leaves, leftover roti, and rice. These chickens have high endurance and survive both hot and cold weather.

In the last four years, the poultry institute supplied around 1.5 million chickens across the 36 districts in Punjab.

Sources with PRI said that the government was likely to greenlight the initiative as it was not a drain on its resources. They said that official approval should come within a fortnight with the project expected to resume by August.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2023.