The All Assam Poultry Farmers and Traders Association and the College of Veterinary Science, Khanapara are hosting the All India Poultry Expo 2022 at the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre from September 13 to 16. The Expo is aimed to keep the poultry farmers abreast of the latest developments and practices in poultry management, poultry health and nutrition, and poultry breeding, as well as to educate them about new techniques in feed manufacturing and poultry production.

86 farmers and firms from across India including from Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, and West Bengal have participated in the Expo. There are also participants from Jagiroad, Khetri. Dibrugarh, Sonapur, and Jorhat in Assam are displaying various items like feed, feed integrator, hatchery equipment, farming equipment like drinker, feeder, etc. sanitizer, automatic drinker, vaccines, etc. Importance is also given to developing technical know-how of poultry farmers through experts. The participants have been educated about the health and well-being of the bird and how to upgrade its maintenance.

Assam is not self-sufficient in egg production and poultry meat and has to import from other states. Against the annual requirement of 560 crores of eggs, the state produces only around 47.50 crores of eggs annually, as per the Integrated Sample Survey report on the official website of the Animal Husbandry and Poultry Department. Accordingly, there is a shortage of 512.5 crore eggs annually.

"This shortfall can be mitigated to a great extent through the establishment of commercial layer farms in the private sector as well as promoting backyard poultry farming. Moreover, there is a dearth of scientific know-how among poultry farmers. ," said Nikhil Ranjan Nath, Secretary of the All Assam Poultry Farmers and Traders Association to Business Northeast.

Notably, the Poultry Development Policy Assam, 2019-2024 aims to increase and upgrade poultry production in Assam and convert the status of the state from a large importer to a large exporter.

Participants have opined that such functions will surely help them to display their stuff and get a better network, market linkage facility, etc.

Anil Sandhu, Manager of Unnat Feeds said, "This is a good platform for us to display our products. The response from the customers is overwhelming. We are expecting a rise in customers after this Expo. We expect that the government will host more such expos in the future."

Among all the participants displaying their poultry equipment, a unique opportunity to display their stall was given to a Non-Government Organisation sponsored by Northeastern Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi) called Association for Livelihood Promotion and Entrepreneurship Development which prepares commodities from water hyacinth.

The expense of the All India Poultry Expo 2022 has been estimated at Rs. 35 lakhs. Reportedly, the organizing departments incurred losses as the program was at a short notice and the stalls for display had to be rented at minimal prices.

Some of the important speakers of the occasion were the Chairman of Assam Livestock Corporation, Dean of the College of Veterinary Science, Research Director of the College of Veterinary Science, and Vice Chancellor USTM.

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