Tribal women paving way to self reliance through poultry farming

Raipur:
The women of tribal areas are paving the road to self reliance exploring the commercial
possibilities of backyard poultry besides working to combat malnutrition
problem.  

With
the convergence of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act), DMF (District Mineral Trust Fund) and 14th Finance Commission, 43 groups
of women from remote areas of Bijapur district are doing community poultry farming
and egg production. These eggs are being procured by the district
administration which is further being supplied to the Anganwadis for Chief
Minister’s Nutrition Campaign run by WCD department. The women of the group
also sell these eggs in local markets. Over 3.77 lakh eggs have been produced
in 43 community poultry centers of the district by various self-help groups so
far. Of these, women have earned more than Rs 25 lakh from the sale of 3.44
lakh eggs.

Forest
produce collection, agriculture and animal husbandry are the main sources of
livelihood of the villagers in the Naxal-affected Bijapur district. The tribal
families there traditionally do poultry farming in their homes. Considering the
efficiency of local women in poultry farming and the utility of egg in eradicating
malnutrition, the Bijapur district administration laid the foundation stone for
egg production through community poultry farming in the year 2020-21 by
convergence of different schemes.

Under
this project, 43 community poultry sheds are currently being operated in the
district. These have been constructed by the convergence of Rs 60.09 lakh received
from MGNREGA, Rs 29.72 lakh from 14th Finance Commission and Rs 1.27 crore from
DMF. During this, MGNREGA workers of the district also got direct employment of
6,536 man-days.

Along
with self-employment, women of nine self-help groups of Bijapur block, 14 of
Bhairamgarh block, 7 of Bhopalpatnam block and 13 of Usur blocks are giving
their active participation in the fight against malnutrition. They have
developed professional skills in poultry farming under the technical guidance
of Animal Husbandry Department. The supply of chicks for community poultry, the
arrangement of cages and the provision of fodder and necessary medicines for
the whole year was done through DMF.