This sector generates employment (direct/indirect) and income for 1.5 million people.
Its contribution in agriculture growth is 4.81 per cent and in livestock growth 9.84 per cent.
Poultry meat contributes 19 per cent of the total meat production in the country.
The current investment in the poultry industry is about Rs200 billion.
The poultry sector has shown a robust growth at the rate of 8 to 10 percent annually which reflects its inherent potential.
This industry has several advantages as well as disadvantages over other classes of livestock in terms of production on a large scale.
Commercially speaking, chickens are raised in crowded conditions. As a result, infections and bacteria spread more readily among birds.
Commercially raised chickens are more likely to carry salmonella, which causes illness in humans.
Symptoms
of salmonella poisoning are diarrhoea and vomiting, with hospitalisation or even death occurring in severe cases.
Commercially raised chickens are often kept in pens without light or access to the outdoors.
Animal rights advocates call these practices cruel and unnecessary for raising healthy chickens.
If you care about the way your chicken was treated before slaughter, this is a distinct disadvantage of commercial chicken farming.
Commercially-raised chickens are often fed antibiotics to prevent the spread of disease in the farms.
Although the Food and Drug Administration of America requires a waiting period between administration of the drugs and
slaughter to help reduce residue of the drugs in the chicken’s system, it does not change the fact that the drugs were administered.
The antibiotics used are the same used by humans. Farmers administer antibiotics to prevent disease rather than treat it, which can encourage the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Most commercially raised chicken is injected with a salt or monosodium glutamate solution during processing.
This increases the sodium content of the meat and can cause health problems in sensitive individuals. Adding these solutions plumps the chicken and preserves its pink colour.
Commercially-raised chickens are fed compounds that may be dangerous to human health, reports a study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in April 2008.
Some companies have discontinued the use of these compounds, but commercially- raised chickens may still be eating feed that contains parts of slaughtered chickens, faeces, plastics and an overabundance of grains.
Poor quality feed could mean poor quality meat.
TASRA ANJUM
Lahore
Source: Argentine Beef Packers S.A.
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