Poultry industry is one of the shining industries of West Bengal. The annual growth rate is about 15.44% since last 5 years. West Bengal stands second position in relation to poultry population and first considering the density of population in India. As per 17th Quenelle Livestock and Poultry Census, there are 378.55 lakh number of total fowl population in West Bengal. The density of such population is almost half of the human population in the state. About 492 numbers of fowl are in the state per square km area. The egg production rate is increased 307 % during last 25 years in the state i.e. 676 million (1976 – 77) to 2750 million (2002 – 03). But the production is to be increased about 5 times to fulfill the requirement of the state as per the recommendation of ICMR. Being second in population, West Bengal stands fifth in egg production due to its large number of low yielding fowl population. About 84% eggs are produced in backyard farming system within the state, where Deshi hens contribute 50%. Only 16% (4532.66 lakh) eggs are produced from 19.99 lakh number of improved layer population (Annual Report, 2005). Scarcity of poultry feed ingredient in the state is one of the identified problems. Hence, big industries are not interested to develop large layer farm in West Bengal. Several approaches are made to overcome the issues. On the other hand, the average productivity of the Deshi hen in the state is almost about 99 eggs in a year. But its concentration is more in the rural areas. Most of the rural householders reared the indigenous fowl as a family tradition. Considering this situation, the Animal Resources Development Department, Govt. of West Bengal took a venture to improve the egg production in the state by increasing the productivity of traditionally maintained low yielding fowl population. The Govt. has initiated a programme where about one crore of improved variety dual type fowl are provided to the traditionally maintained rural house holders within five years. With the awareness regarding scientific backyard poultry farming the Govt. is trying to improve the egg production in a large scale throughout the state in a uniform manner. Hence, the protein requirement, particularly to the poor people will be partly enhanced as well as family earning will also be increased. The women empowerment can be enriched by this effort. It is found that there is no such specific system suitable for various areas of West Bengal for integrated backyard poultry farming in respect of number of birds with specific space and nutritional requirement for the birds, health consciousness, socio-economic status of the farmers, marketing facilities etc. Hence, an approach can be made to formulate a model for standard and sustainable backyard poultry farming by integrated approach for different socio-economic condition.
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