Intervention study has improved chicken rearing and on-farm biosecurity in the Central Dry Zone of Myanmar

As part of an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research Centre (ACIAR),
University of Queensland (UQ) animal health project in the Central Dry Zone (CDZ) of Myanmar, a year-long intervention study has improved chicken rearing and on-farm biosecurity.

The study, which was completed in November 2015, included vaccinations against Newcastle disease administered in three-monthly intervals. Interviews with village chicken farmers were conducted in December 2015 to explore changes in their perceptions, beliefs and practices towards Newcastle disease and its prevention and to follow-up on the outcomes of the intervention study. (A similar survey was conducted before the commencement of the intervention study.)


The village chicken interventions were incorporated in a marionette play that was performed in the villages. The play was very well received by all poultry farmers and was recorded and broadcasted by a Myanmar television station.

https://youtu.be/hRm2TYY-Q34
Myanmar TV channel SkyNet,10 December 2015

https://youtu.be/uS7FA9Hhc60

Marionette play, 30 November 2015, Hpet Yin village, Mandalay Division, Myanmar.  

Marionette play on improved village chicken rearing

At the beginning of 2016 the sale of starter feed and intervention material through village-based feed dealers commenced. In addition, a new training approach was introduced in the study villages, in which ‘model poultry farmers’ promote the village chicken interventions to fellow poultry farmers. Newcastle disease vaccinations are still continuing in three-monthly intervals in the study villages.

The study is part of the ACIAR project ‘Improving livelihoods of small-scale livestock producers in the Central Dry Zone through research on animal production and health in Myanmar’. In the CDZ, poor rural households could benefit greatly from improvements to animal productivity. The project is focusing on enhancing management, nutrition and health of small ruminants, indigenous cattle and village poultry. The project is one component of ACIAR’s program in Myanmar aimed at capturing the benefits of earlier projects and launching a new integrated approach to agricultural research. The project outcomes will include vital information on the country’s current livestock management, animal productivity and disease status. It will also contribute to a larger CDZ program on crops, livestock and water use. Collaborating organisations include: University of Melbourne, Australia; Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department, Myanmar; and University of Veterinary Science, Myanmar

Poultry feed dealer in Kyauk Aoe

This particular project uses a participatory research approach (PRA) to explore management of livestock and to identify constrains to livestock health and production.