Poultry production in Nepal

Two distinct systems of poultry production are in practice. The scavenging poultry is widely prevalent in rural area and nearly 45 percent of the total poultry population comprises of native flock. In response to meet the urban demand for meat and eggs, commercial poultry keeping is growing rapidly in recent years (from 1985 to 2008, the population and meat production grew by 3 times). In terms of total meat production and egg production the share of commercial poultry is substantially higher. Major constraints in poultry production are heavy dependency on import of major feed ingredients, quality regulation of vaccines, veterinary drugs and animal feeds. In recent days, threat of avian influenza has posed serious concerns. The trend of poultry population and meat production is presented below: