Poultry production in India has made rapid progress in the last three decades. The estimated 27 billion eggs produced in 1991 represented a 12-fold increase compared with 1961. Broiler production, which was only four million in 1971, increased to around 250 million in 1991 – almost a 60-fold increase in 20 years. The retail value of poultry and poultry products was about 35 billion rupees in 1991 compared with around 8 and 0.65 billion rupees in 1980 and 1961, respectively. The increase in poultry production also created employment for about 100 000 farm workers. Efforts are directed at achieving self-reliance and self-sufficiency in all spheres of poultry production by 2000 A.D. The annual output of eggs is likely to increase to 40 billion and broiler production to 400 million during this period. Not only will this increase the per capita availability of eggs and poultry meat and so help in the fight against malnutrition, it will also provide many additional job opportunities. To achieve these objectives more emphasis is being placed on applied research, the creation of infrastructure, and on facilities for producing adequate numbers of trained people. There is also greater effort aimed at stimulating transfer of technology and making more investment capital available from financial institutions. This in turn will contribute to improved rural production, greater diversification within the poultry sector, and the introduction of basic quality control at all stages of production and marketing. The scope for market intervention to help provide producers with reasonable prices is being assessed. The opening of Indian markets to non-resident Indians and others interested in poultry development and accelerating the pace of development by the creation of appropriate organizations such as the National Poultry Development Board and the National Bureau of Poultry Genetic Resources, are also envisaged.

In the Netherlands the high densities of farm livestock pose a number of problems, particularly with regard to waste disposal. Nitrogen compounds leaching out of animal waste form one of the most serious environmental contaminants. Modified housing systems, such as the use of plastic netting floors for broilers (which speeds up dehydration), often can largely eliminate the release of ammonium gas which gives rise to air pollution. However, this only defers the problem because subsequent application of the droppings to the land, where they become rehydrated, results in the rapid production of ammonia and nitrates through microbial activity. Research at Delft University identified bacteria capable of converting the nitrogen in ammonia to molecular nitrogen gas under aerobic conditions. Subsequent development work at the Spelderholt Institute has established a considerable potential for application. The addition of cultures of the bacteria to the feed is a promising future technology.

In the UK about 1.4 million tonnes of used poultry litter are produced each year. Its disposal by direct use as a fertilizer or by landfill can, in some circumstances, have an adverse environmental impact. Waste-to-energy schemes which generate revenue from the energy produced and may provide fertilizer as a valuable byproduct offer an alternative and environmentally acceptable means of disposal.