Kudumbashree Broiler Farmers Company Ltd. (KBFCL) that unifies all support systems for production, marketing, and sale of chicken under the Kudumbashree Kerala Chicken brand has achieved a sales turnover of ₹100 crore.
The Kudumbashree Kerala Chicken project was started in November 2017 in association with the Animal Husbandry Department and KEPCO (Kerala State Poultry Development Corporation) to make available quality broiler chicken meat at reasonable price to consumers throughout the State.
The KBFPCL has supplied 78,90,276 kg of meat through the Kerala Chicken outlets. It provides poultry meat at a rate lower than the normal market rate. At present, the Kerala Chicken project is operational in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Kozhikode districts.
This is the first project funded by the government in the poultry integration sector. It envisages establishing broiler chicken farms with the support of the Kudumbashree network and marketing of poultry meat and sales through the Kerala Chicken outlets.
The Kerala Chicken farms are provided only to Kudumbashree members or to their families. After an evaluation of the farm and approval, the company enters into an agreement with the farmer. The supervisors provide training to the farmers in various aspects, and then provide them chicks, feed, medicine and vaccination. The supervisors also monitor the quality and growth of chicks. In 40-45 days, the birds gain 1.8-2 kg in weight and are lifted by the lifting supervisor. The birds are then transported to Kerala Chicken outlets. The KBFPCL provides a maximum of ₹13 as rearing charge to farmers. The payment is done within 15 days of lifting of the birds.
The Kerala Chicken outlets are provided only to women who are Kudumbashree members. The marketing team assesses if the outlet has licence, proper waste management facility, and other infrastructure, and then enters into an agreement with the outlet beneficiary.
Kudumbashree says the major unique selling proposition of the project is traceability of the poultry meat. It has also transformed Kudumbashree women into entrepreneurs. As many as 364 women have found their livelihood through farming and by being outlet beneficiaries
The poultry farmers earn ₹50,000 on an average after one integration cycle (once in 45 days), while the outlet beneficiaries make ₹87,000 a month by sale of the birds through the Kerala Chicken outlets, says the Kudumbashree.
The project has provided ₹9.3 crore as integration fee to the poultry farmers and ₹11.05 crore to outlet beneficiaries. The Animal Husbandry Department also provides a subsidy of ₹23,52,940 to 50 poultry farmers under the Kerala Chicken Project.
The company plans to start a poultry processing plant at Kadinamkulam. According to a five-year action plan, 1,000 new broiler farms and 500 outlets will be started each year, they say.
