Poultry farmers complain companies are underpaying them for rearing birds

The contract farming model isn't benefiting the growers anymore, they allege

For years, Praveen, who owns a broiler chicken farm in Haryana's Panipat district, bred and reared about 50,000 birds that were later picked up by leading poultry companies for forward sale to consumers.

His business was running smoothly and was sometimes referred to as a highly successful model of contract farming between companies and farmers.

However, of late, Praveen says that the model is showing signs of cracking.

And poultry companies are backing off from the prescribed format or trying to pass extra expenditure on to the farmers.

“Normally, the agreement is that once the birds are fully developed after