Demonstration farming of 3 innovative chicken breeds launched

Bangladesh has launched a demonstration farming initiative featuring three innovative chicken breeds.

The three new breeds are SASSOLI red, SASSO blend fast, and SASSO blend faster. These breeds offer a range of multi-coloured slow-growing and fast-growing commercial chicken breeds in Bangladesh.

Demand for coloured broilers is large in Bangladesh and the SASSO breeds are in great demand due to their tastiness and pleasant aroma. These were innovated keeping in mind the country's demand for chicken, reads a press release.

These chicks are grown swiftly compared to other coloured breeds like Sonali and become suitable for consumption within 49 days. They are given improved feeds, and less antibiotics is used. These breeds are expected to be comparatively better in taste and nutrition than broiler breeds.

The new breeds were launched at the inauguration of SASSO farm at Chunia village in Madhupur upazila of Tangail district yesterday. Irma van Dueren, ambassador of the Netherlands in Bangladesh, attended the event as the chief guest and inaugurated SASSO farm.

In her speech, Irma van Dueren said, "The Netherlands has a reputation of flourishing in the overall agricultural sector and we have been working with Bangladesh through different forms of partnerships over many decades now. I am glad to learn about the technicalities of the Nourish-SASSO trial farm and how the PoultryTechBangladesh consortium is working towards strengthening the overall Nutrition sector through the Poultry value chain in Bangladesh."

Haruni Osman, senior policy advisor, Food and Nutrition Security at Netherlands Embassy in Bangladesh, Sara van Hoeve, first secretary at Netherlands Embassy in Bangladesh, Matthias Brienen, director of Larive International, Zahedul Amin, director of LightCastle Partners, Amber van Spronsen, emerging market advisor of Larive International, Dipa Sultana, senior business consultant and project manager of LightCastle Partners, Shahadat Hossain, country manager of Hendrix Genetics, Nurul Basar Sarkar, project coordinator of Nourish, and others were also present at the event.

Under the umbrella of the five-year project titled 'PoultryTechBangladesh,' the SASSO farm embarked on its journey with Nourish Poultry, a subsidiary of the Khaled Group of Companies, taking the lead. Nourish, a Bangladesh-based company engaged in poultry breeding and hatching, feed production, farming, and food processing, will manage the operations.

The Government of the Netherlands co-funds the initiative, forming a public-private partnership through PoultryTechBangladesh. This consortium comprises leading entities from various stages in the poultry value chain, offering integrated solutions for Bangladeshi companies. Hendrix Genetics, a Dutch-headquartered multi-species animal breeding, genetics, and technology company, provides technical support for breeding at the SASSO farm.

PoultryTechBangladesh, coordinated by Larive International and LightCastle Partners, includes ten companies and knowledge institutes, namely Aeres Training Centre International, Aftab Bahumukhi Farms, Hato, Kazi Farms, Marel Poultry, Mavitec, Nutreco, Royal Pas Reform, and Van Aarsen.

The SASSO farm has already produced approximately 3,000 new breed chicks, with plans to significantly increase production in subsequent stages. The partnership aims to fortify business relations between stakeholders in the Dutch and Bangladeshi poultry value chain, resulting in increased trade, investment, and cooperation, with the overarching goal of contributing to a more competitive and sustainable poultry sector in Bangladesh.

The farmhouses at the premises of Nourish Poultry will function as a demonstration location for farmers from central Bangladesh, showcasing the commercial attractiveness and applicability of Dutch products and solutions to local needs.

With around Tk35,000 crore invested in Bangladesh's poultry industry and approximately 100,000 poultry farms in the country, involving about 2.5 million people directly, this initiative is poised to bring about significant positive changes in the dynamics of the poultry sector.