Port Blair, Aug 05: Mission (NRLM) scheme is focused on promoting self-employment and organization of rural poor. The basic idea behind this program is to organize the poor into SHG (Self Help Groups) and make them capable of self-employment.
Backyard poultry farming is increasingly offering remote rural families both food and financial support. And as take-up for these products grows, its effects on marginalised groups, especially women, could prove beneficial. Rural India is increasingly becoming a place where people are exploring the possibilities of rearing poultry. Poultry has become a tool for rural women to overcome poverty.
One such example is of Vartika producer group comprising of about 20 SHG’s. This group was formed in December. They sell country chicken birds and eggs at the Beodnabad Panchayat. Every Sunday market is organised at the Beodnabad Panchayat Building hall where the SHGwomen showcase various handmade products. Moreover, Vartika Producers also operates from the same Panchayat Building and for procurement of Birds and eggs the Group members can be contacted every Sunday from 9.00 am to 12.00 p.m. Backyard poultry farming primarily involves country chicken birds. They are selling today’s popular breeds which include several varieties such as Vanaraja, Kadaknath, Country chicken bird, Common Quail, Duck.
One of the primary objectives of popularising backyard poultry farming in rural areas is to provide better income opportunities to the poor farmers and people from indigenous communities living in remote areas. Among its benefits is that it can help make rural women economically and socially empowered and can address the issues of food insecurity and malnutrition.
In such a scenario, the “scope for backyard poultry is enormous and would be expanded through NRLM scheme especially in rural areas.”
