Duck production in India - A review

Abstract

In India, the contribution of ducks for egg and meat production is next to chicken. There are many advantages of duck production over chicken. The important available ducks in the country are few exotic breeds and locally available indigenous ducks. Ducks can be reared under intensive, semi-intensive and extensive rearing system. However, in India, ducks are mostly reared in small flock size as subsidiary source of income. The major duck based integrated farming system are duck-fish, duck-rice and duck-rice-fish integrated farming system. Feed is the major factor in livestock and poultry production system as it accounts about 70-75% of the total cost of production. To minimize the cost of production, many locally available alternate or unconventional feed ingredients, viz. azolla, cassava, broken rice are used for feeding of ducks. The constraints of duck farming are mainly the unavailability of suitable germplasm, scarcity in natural feed resources, drying of natural water bodies, difficulty in the availability of vaccines, poor marketing facilities, etc. In India, there is ample scope for duck production to meet egg and meat demand of the country. Suitable duck breeds or varieties need to be developed for rural backyard duck farming. Comprehensive feeding packages along with scientific management practices for different types of ducks should be formulated for economic production of duck eggs and meat. There is a need for establishment of hatcheries and other infrastructures in rural areas to promote duck farming for sustainable livelihood of the people.