(India) Indian poultry breeder C&M Farming Limited launched its new broiler breed “Marshall Ultra Converter (UC)” at Poultry India 2009 show held in Hyderabad, India. Marshall UC is developed to have excellent performance on feed conversion both at parent stock and commercial levels. Trails conducted under average management, nutrition and environment showed that a parent bird consumed an average of 389g per broiler chick (0-68 weeks of age), while a commercial bird reached a body weight of 2.6kg in 42 days with a cumulative feed consumption of 4.5 kg or an FCR of 1.7.
Dr. P. K. Shukla, Joint Commissioner Poultry, Ministry of Agriculture, India, congratulated the Marshall team on their newest product in his speech, and highlighted the need for improvements in feed conversion in the poultry industry.
Chairman Elias D’Souza remarked, “This is the newest breed to be launched by the company and comes after a decade of intense R&D for feed conversion in broilers. The breed has been specially designed to be able to provide excellent feed conversion in hot and tropical conditions of India and Asia.”
The breed comes at a time when unprecedented shifts are taking place in the feed grain commodities market with emerging trends like diversion of crops like maize, traditionally the mainstay of poultry feed, into production of bio-fuel, says the company. Moreover, expected growth in the Indian poultry industry fueled by rising incomes and changing dietary habits will ensure that the demand for feed grains like maize and soybean will continue to grow in the future.
Source: Asian Agribusiness
