Indian poultry industry: current scenario and future prospects: a review

India's poultry industry has transformed from a mere backyard activity into a major commercial activity in just four decades. India is now the world's 4th largest egg producer and the 5th largest producer of broilers. Rising incomes, coupled with emergence of vertically integrated production systems, contract growing, and marketing activities bringing about much needed economies of scale and thereby sustained profit margins along with technological development have been the major planks for this transformation. The objectives of the paper are two fold: (a) to gain a better understanding of the prospects for the poultry industry, by assessing supply/demand structure; production and consumption trends; consumer demand and preferences; price scenario, income and price elasticities and factors affecting poultry demand; performance and costs; marketing and (b) to take advantage of the factors that led to the success of poultry in some regions for growth prospects in other less developed regions. Considering the wide gap between the recommended and actual levels of consumption/ availability of poultry meat and eggs, there exists an ample scope for furthering the poultry industry. Integrated production, a market transition from live birds to chilled and frozen products, and policies that ensure input supplies at competitive prices are keys to sustain the present production and for future growth and development of poultry sector in India, have been advocated.