The 13th National Poultry Day was celebrated on Thursday at the National Poultry Research Program in Parwanipur. On this occasion, a modern shed built for farmers was also inaugurated.

Program coordinator Dr. Ajit Kumar Jha expressed his best wishes to poultry farmers, veterinarians, scientists, animal technicians, hatcheries, poultry entrepreneurs, feed entrepreneurs, drug and vaccine manufacturers, drug sellers and all stakeholders.

Jha said that the contribution of the poultry sector to Nepal's economy is unparalleled, and currently this sector has contributed about 4 percent to Nepal's gross domestic product and more than 8 percent to the agricultural sector's gross domestic product.

Stating that Nepal has become self-sufficient in meat and eggs, Dr. Jha said that according to the latest statistics, about 181.3 thousand metric tons of chicken meat and more than 1.5 billion eggs are being produced in Nepal annually. He also said that there is private investment of more than 160 billion in this sector.

National Poultry Day has been celebrated in Nepal since 2070 Poush 17. Stating that rural poultry also contributes equally to Nepal along with broilers and layers, Dr. Jha said that about 45 percent of the total number of poultry in Nepal is still raised through traditional household or rural methods.

He also said that the National Poultry Research Program has successfully completed 6 research-oriented projects in the fiscal year 2081/082. In this process, for the first time in Nepal, turkey breeding and for the first time in Turkey, artificial insemination was attempted, which was partially successful, and this will greatly help in the improvement of the turkey breed.

Similarly, he said that research conducted on quails has shown that the use of probiotics has improved body weight and egg production capacity. He also said that the use of nano copper oxide in broiler chicken feed has yielded positive results in the weight and feed consumption rate of broiler chickens.