Dutch poultry industry to share expertise with India

The Dutch poultry industry will share its expertise and experiences with business leaders and relevant stakeholders in the Indian poultry sector at a session to be held here on November 25.

The Netherlands Business Support Office (NBSO), Hyderabad will host the third edition of the "Dutch Knowledge Day" at Novotel HICC on the eve of 13th Poultry India meet. This was announced on Thursday.

Bas Rodenburg of Utrecht University and Jasper Heerkens of Aeres Centre will deliver sessions focused on the possibilities and challenges offered by cage-free housing of laying hens and also on the 'alternative cage systems' available in the market.

These sessions aim at improving the poultry husbandry in India by developing indigenous housing solutions and novel and sustainable feed strategies. They will also talk about how poultry welfare not only focuses on the animal aspects of welfare like feather pecking, foot pad lesions, beak treatment, tail biting, but also its societal importance.

Ajay Odathekal, The Netherlands Trade Commissioner for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, said the Netherlands look at India as a strategic partner and is keen to work with India in finding solutions to the challenges faced by the industry. He noted that for Dutch companies, India is a learning ground and not merely a destination for their products.

"The collaboration between India and the Netherlands in the field of poultry does not limit itself to state-of-the-art technologies alone, but instead, goes much deeper, touching on topics like feed, bird welfare, AMR etc," he said.

Theme for Knowledge Day session is 'Bird Welfare'. "There is a raging debate going on in India on this, especially considering certain court cases which the Indian farmers fear, would render the poultry industry untenable. The experts from the Netherlands aim to work closely with the stakeholders from the Indian industry and develop a truly Indian welfare model for the poultry birds in India.

( With inputs from IANS )