The Centre for Science and Environment's report during World AMR Awareness Week 2025 emphasises potential of backyard and rural poultry systems in India to combat antimicrobial resistance.
These systems offer sustainable benefits like improved nutrition and livelihoods, leveraging resilient breeds.
Despite challenges, policy support can enhance scalability and address antibiotic misuse effectively.
India’s backyard poultry population, including rural poultry, saw a 46 per cent growth from 2012, even though it accounted for just about a third of the total poultry population in India at that time, according to the 2019 livestock census. The remaining two-thirds were from commercial poultry systems.
In 2023-2024, only 15.4 per cent of total eggs came from backyard poultry. It is evident that despite the potential to grow, much of the poultry products came from commercial poultry production systems.
These systems, however, are unsustainable owing to high stocking density of productivity-centric breeds. Poultry in these settings are reared in confined conditions with limited animal husbandry, making them potential breeding grounds for zoonotic diseases, resistant pathogens and pandemics.
On the contrary, backyard and rural poultry production systems are more sustainable and play an important role in improving nutrition and livelihood for rural masses. Being free-range, these farming systems need minimal investment and inputs for establishment and operation, thereby being cost-effective. Adverse impact on environment and ecological health is minimal, while ensuring safer nutritive food.
Small and marginal farmers, rearing poultry in backyards or on a smaller scale, can not only use meat or eggs for family consumption, but also sell in nearby markets. Remarkably, these systems are also a potential answer to address another public health crisis ─ antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Commercial poultry farming systems, though unsustainable, are fulfilling the high demand requirements for poultry products due to the high productivity of the breeds used. But there is a need to rethink how productivity can be maintained while growing sustainably.
A report by the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Upscaling Backyard and Rural Poultry Systems in India released during the World AMR Awareness Week 2025 on approaches to achieve this.
One way to make India's poultry farming systems more sustainable is by promoting and scaling up such backyard and rural poultry production systems ─ the backbone of which is formed by India’s rich pool of resilient poultry breeds. These breeds typically include native (desi or indigenous) breeds and their improved varieties that are characterised by low input needs, high adaptability to harsher conditions and local climate and disease resilience.
The productivity concerns of these native breeds were addressed by ‘improved varieties’, which have been modified from native breeds by selective breeding or cross breeding for better characteristic traits such as improved body weight and egg production.
These can be low-input technology (LIT) varieties for small-farmer consumption and income generation, or high-input varieties for small-scale commercial purposes. Improved varieties provide productivity that is on par with commercial ones.
The CSE report underscored the benefits of scaling up such systems as a future long-term opportunity to reduce antibiotic misuse and AMR, offering co-benefits such as improved livelihood, nutrition and biodiversity conservation.
The role of resilient breeds in viability and growth of such systems are key, as the researchers noted in the report that also documented challenges in and opportunities for scaling up backyard and rural poultry systems through policy and programmatic support.
The report captures seven good examples of backyard poultry farming being successfully carried out, helping small-holder farmers make an income and also get safe good food. KeggFarms’ Kuroiler model, for instance, has improved nutrition and livelihood of rural women, in addition to creating micro-entrepreneurs, reducing diseases and need for antibiotics.
In Maharashtra, a community-led backyard poultry farming initiative is enhancing nutrition and livelihood of landless farmers of migrating community, supported by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India). There is less disease and antibiotic need due to native breeds, timely vaccination and use of herbal medication.
Similarly, the WASSAN-led Backyard Poultry Cluster Program for Small Holders across nine Indian states is a women-led micro-enterprise promoting sustainable livelihood by pairing desi poultry with a multi-layer eco-farm and incorporating decentralised breeding farms and poultry healthcare services.
There has been notable government effort for promoting backyard poultry. The National Livestock Mission identified 23 LIT birds and promotes their rearing by providing subsidy to establish parent farms, hatcheries and brooder-cum-mother units.
The All India Coordinated Research Project on Poultry Breeding focuses on developing location-specific chicken varieties and conserving native germplasm. Backyard poultry for farm livelihoods is also being promoted under National Rural Livelihoods Mission. Many states like West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, Assam and Tamil Nadu have own schemes to promote LIT bird rearing for self-sufficiency among small farmers.
However, despite the advantages and potential, the scale of backyard and rural poultry farming in India remains limited due to several on the ground challenges, which the report identified based on extensive stakeholder engagement and field research.
Disease risk and mortality is high during initial 6-8 weeks as farmers often skip vaccination due to limited awareness, resources, cost and poor access / availability. They also lack resources and facility for adequate brooding and nutrition.
In remote areas, access to right breed / variety of good quality is a concern as farmers rely on local middlemen. Government stocks, though cheaper, are sometimes perceived of lower quality. Follow-up from chick distribution centres and availability of veterinarians to guide farmers is limited.
Farmers also are often reluctant to travel long distances to just sell few birds, with no vendors to collect birds at fair price. To enhance farmer uptake and scalability, the most crucial need is to reduce risk and bird mortality in the first 6-8 weeks. This can be done by establishing and strengthening ‘mother units’ to provide day-old-chicks with necessary brooding, management and vaccination until they are stable before distribution.
Public-private partnerships can be considered for sustainable supply of resilient breeds to address demand-supply gap. Incentivising farmers to set up own breeder farms and small incubators can foster self-sustainability.
Veterinary capacity and guidance need strengthening, such as through training of community animal healthworkers or para-vets, for areas with limited professional veterinary oversight. There is a need to create dedicated markets for farmers to access and earn remunerative pricing.