An overview of recent developments in poultry production in north-eastern region of India

North-eastern region of India is a landlocked area and it is inhabited by various tribal communities who are mostly non-vegetarians and hence there is a huge demand for meat and eggs of poultry. Requirement of poultry eggs and meat of the region is mostly being met by procuring them from outside the region. About 82% of the population resides in rural areas of the region and they are depending on the agriculture and allied sectors like backyard poultry for their livelihood. By and large, all the farmers practice age old traditional system of poultry farming with little or no inputs. In spite of several attempts, the modern industrialized (commercial) poultry farming has not taken roots in the region. However, there is an urgent need for improving the availability of egg and poultry meat in order to meet the ever increasing demand for these poultry products. In the recent fast, efforts were made to introduce the improved varieties of chicken in the region to augment the productivity of traditional system of poultry farming. The paper reviews the issues related to existing poultry faming and the way forward to improve productivity of poultry farming in the northeastern region of the country.