Backyard Poultry Farming: Backyard Poultry Farming Improved the Socio-economic Condition of Tribal Farmers

Backyard Poultry Farming: Jerome Soreng improved his farming by adopting Backyard Poultry Farming and achieved success with Integrated Farming System.

Jerome Soreng, who is a retired professor, has a total of 5 acres of land, out of which 2 acres is unirrigated. To improve his farming, he left the traditional methods of agriculture and adopted Integrated Farming System and also included poultry farming in it. To move in this new direction, he went to Krishi Vigyan Kendra, East Singhbhum, where he took training on topics like Integrated Farming System, Backyard Poultry Farming, Pig-based Farming System and Paddy Intensification System. This training gave him information about new and commercial methods of farming.

Started with Jharsim Breed of Chickens

Jerome Soreng’s interest in backyard poultry farming grew further when he came to know about Jharsim chickens. This is a special variety of chicken, formerly known as DBN, and was developed by ICAR-AICRP on Poultry Breeding, BAU, Ranchi. To know more about this variety, he visited the poultry unit of Ranchi Veterinary College, Birsa Agricultural University, Kanke, Ranchi, where he gained more in-depth knowledge about poultry farming.

Jerome Soreng started backyard poultry farming with 100 Jharsim chickens in early 2014. He paid special attention to the right housing, proper diet and disease management for the chickens. As a result of this care and attention, the chickens matured quickly, and their weight increased to 1.4 kg in 3 months. Also, the chickens started laying the first egg at the age of 22 weeks. Later, he sold 28 chickens after 4 months of age at Rs 400 per bird. From the remaining 50 chickens, he obtained about 5000 eggs, which he sold at the rate of Rs 7 per egg.

Economic Benefits and Impact

Backyard Poultry Farming not only helped Jerome Soreng meet the daily expenses of his farm but also utilized the farm labourers in a proper way. In March 2015, he received a gross income of Rs 60,000 by selling chickens. After this, he further expanded his poultry farming and emerged as a role model.

Jerome Soreng made maximum use of local resources in backyard poultry farming, such as using kitchen and farm waste to feed the chickens. Also, he managed timely vaccination and medicines properly. In this way, he set an example for the farming community that how even a small farm can be commercially viable, economically beneficial and sustainable.

Impact on the Community

Jerome Soreng’s story not only brought him success personally, but it also became a source of inspiration for other farmers. Nowadays, farmers from many places in Jharkhand visit his farm and learn from his experience. They buy fertile eggs from Jerome Soreng and use brooder chickens to hatch them.

It is a result of his hard work and dedication that he inspired 12 farmers to start backyard poultry farming and helped them in the process. His move has brought economic prosperity and social awareness to the local community.

Learning and Inspiration

There are many important lessons to learn from Jerome Soreng’s success story. First and foremost, integrated farming systems can be economically profitable even on a small scale. The scientific methods and proper management adopted by him brought him good profits from poultry farming.

Maximum use of local resources, such as kitchen and farm waste as animal feed, reduced his costs. Apart from this, Jerome Soreng’s desire to acquire knowledge and skills became the key to his success. His story also shows that successful models can become a source of inspiration for others.

This also proves that a tribal farmer, if given the right guidance and training, can earn good profits even on his small land through activities like backyard poultry farming. Jerome Soreng’s example shows that with dedication and hard work, any farmer can improve his socio-economic status and contribute to the development of the community.

Thus, Jerome Soreng’s story is not only a story of his personal struggle and success but has become an inspiration for tribal farmers who hope to improve their economic condition through small-scale agriculture and backyard poultry farming.

Supporting Tribal Farmers for Holistic Development 

Like Jerome Soreng, if tribal farmers get the right training and guidance, they can not only improve their livelihood but also become an inspiration and role model for their community. Activities like backyard poultry farming can make them self-reliant and bring stability to their lives.

Therefore, the government and other institutions should encourage tribal farmers for such schemes so that they can improve their socio-economic condition with their hard work and dedication. This step will prove to be important towards the overall development of tribal communities and will help these farmers reach new heights.