President’s Report
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President, Bob Pym |
Attendance at meetings
Mediterranean Poultry Summit: It was my pleasure to attend the 2nd Mediterranean Summit of WPSA held in Antalya, Turkey from 4-7 October 2009. This was the first meeting following the establishment of the Mediterranean Poultry Network mentioned in the last WPSA Newsletter. It was an excellent meeting and an opportunity to begin to define the identity and focus of the Mediterranean Network. My congratulations to the organizing and scientific programme committees and in particular to Professor Rüveyde Akbay and Dr Servet Yalcin.
It is fortunate that the poultry summits were already established to provide a forum for meetings between poultry scientists and educators and people from all sectors of the industry in the region, who will be the stakeholders in the new poultry network. Again, my congratulations to those who had the foresight to make these summits a reality, and to all of those who worked so hard to establish the network. The real challenge to the network will be to bring together stakeholders in the poultry industry from the entire Mediterranean region from North Africa, the middle East and southern Europe, whether they be researchers, educators, poultry company personnel, or producers, to identify the constraints to poultry production in the region, and to work together towards overcoming these constraints. in such a way that the identity of the network will be clearly defined.
There is also an important role for the WVPA to play in all of this. There are strong connections between the WVPA and many of the North African countries in particular, where WPSA is only weakly represented. These links between the poultry industry in these countries and WVPA will have been further strengthened by the WVPA congress in Morocco in November. The involvement of poultry health and disease issues in the operations of the network and in the programme and discussions at the summit, is absolutely fundamental.
There is thus much to be gained by very close cooperation between the network, the organizers of the next summit, and WVPA. We are fortunate that Professor Hafez, with his interests and background in the region, will continue as President of that organization for the next 2 years. The next Mediterranean summit is to be held in Egypt early in 2012 and will be held jointly with the biennial Egyptian International poultry science conference. This is very desirable and will facilitate participation by delegates and sponsorship, something absolutely critical to staging successful meetings.
Inaugural meeting Papua New Guinea WPSA Branch: It was my pleasure to attend the inaugural WPSA PNG branch meeting in Lae, Papua, New Guinea on 11 November 2009. The meeting followed an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) small-holder broiler project review meeting, and attendees at the project review meeting stayed on for the WPSA meeting.
Since less than half of the 36 new WPSA branch members were able to attend the meeting, the meeting was used to provide background information to potential members rather than being structured as a normal branch meeting. I spoke on the role and function of WPSA and the entitlements and opportunities for members, and I read out a letter from Alan Gibbins, President of the Asian Pacific Federation of WPSA, congratulating them on the formation of the branch and inviting them to join the Asian Pacific Federation. This was followed by a brief talk by Dr. Julie Roberts, President of the WPSA Australian branch, on opportunities for education and training. Elections within the branch will be held early in 2010 when all members have the opportunity to participate, either physically, electronically or by mail.
It was very pleasing indeed to see the amount of enthusiasm for getting the branch up and running. My particular thanks and congratulations to Janet Pandi and Wokney Ayalew for their efforts in this regard. They are very keen to hold a branch meeting there with technical sessions sometime early next year, to hold elections for executive positions and to chart the course for future branch activities. It was an interesting and worthwhile visit and I look forward to development of the branch. I believe it is in good hands.
Poultry Production in Developing Countries Workshop: A workshop on Improving Poultry Production in the Developing Countries of the Asia Pacific Region will be held on 4-5 February 2010 at the University of Sydney, Australia, following the Australian Poultry Science Symposium (APSS) that will be held from 1-3 February, at the same venue. The workshop will build on a special session at APSS on Poultry Production in Developing Countries.
AusAID is kindly providing support for travel and accommodation for 13 participants from the Asia Pacific region, and WPSA Australian branch is providing support for the staging of the workshop. Selected speakers from APSS will participate in the workshop.
Sixteen months of my term as WPSA President has already slipped by, 32 to go! My very best wishes to all WPSA members for a happy, relaxing and safe festive season and I look forward to meeting and communicating with many of you over the forthcoming months.
Report from the Office of the General Secretary
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General Secretary, Roel Mulder |
I participated in the Latin American Poultry Conference in Havana, Cuba (4-11 October). A well attended conference (ca 1500 participants), well organised with regard to the scientific subjects covered and with good quality papers. The distances between the conference hall and the place of the exhibition were too far for a good interaction. During the conference there was a meeting with representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico (Chile and Cuba were absent, but are informed about progress made) in order to come to better co-operation/communication between branches in Latin America.
I also participated in the 4th World Waterfowl Conference in Thrissur, India from 8-16 November (see report elsewhere in this Newsletter). Approx 200 participants, mostly from India, some other Asian countries and Europe attended this well organised conference. I participated in the opening session and, during the conference, gave a paper on Duck processing, quality and food safety. During the meeting, Working Group 2 on Waterfowl was officially started for the Asian Pacific Federation. A meeting that included several individuals from different Asia/Pacific branches, plus a number of members from the previous European Federation Working Group on waterfowl started the new Working Group. A chairman will be appointed in the near future, and after that the group will make a decision on where the next meeting of the of the Working Group will be held. Plans are to have a conference and meeting every 4 years and that every two years the subject “waterfowl” will be on the programme of AP or EF conferences or the World Congress.
For 2010, I am planning to attend major exhibitions and conferences in Atlanta, Bangkok, Utrecht, Tours, Beijing and Hannover in order to promote WPSA, attract new members and to reach the industry.
Speakers bureau: Assistance was provided from the WPSA Speakers Bureau to the Polish branch, European Genetics Symposium (Dr. Simianer, Germany and Dr. Chapuis, France); to the South African Branches national branch meeting (Dr. Oviedo, USA); to the Turkish Branch, 2nd Mediterranean Poultry Summit (Dr. Eid, Egypt), and to the Indian Branch, 4th World Waterfowl Conference (Dr. Pingel, Germany and Dr. Shortridge, New Zealand).
Travel grants: Mr M.U. Ahammad, Bangladesh and G. Akbari Azad received WPSA travel grants to attend the 2nd Mediterranean Summit in Antalya, Turkey, and Dr. Yakubu, Nigeria received a travel grant to attend the 4th World Waterfowl Conference in Thrissur, India.
Request: WPSA receives a lot of requests asking the organization to send printed material, mainly proceedings. In our library in Beekbergen we have proceedings from symposia, conferences and congresses, however, sometimes there are more requests than material. As not all proceedings are available in an electronic form, we would like to ask members, in case they have spare copies of proceedings, to send them to Beekbergen (WPSA Secretariat, PO Box 31, 7360 AA Beekbergen, The Netherlands).
Request: WPSA is attempting to develop, along with Springer Science Publishers, a Poultry Reference Handbook, offering both print and online access. For this major reference work we are looking for an Editor in Chief. Any member or members who would be interested in taking on this project are kindly asked to contact Dr. Roel Mulder (roel.mulder@wpsa.com) for further information.
Report from the Office of the Treasurer
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Treasurer, Francine Bradley |
The move of my office from the UC Davis campus in Northern California to my new WPSA/University office in Southern California has been completed. My new contact information is as follows:
Dr. Francine A. Bradley, Treasurer
World's Poultry Science Association
1775 E. Palm Canyon Dr.
Suite 110 - #129
Palm Springs, California 92264
Phone: +1 760 699-5078
Fax: +1 760 699-7056
I have been at UC Davis since 1972, so you can appreciate that I had a great deal of material to move. The WPSA portion was significant, with financial records for the 13+ years of my Treasurership, plus financial records of significance from the previous Treasurer.
As the year comes to a close, I have been busy trying to finalize all financial dealings. Dr. Roel Mulder and Mrs. Dorien Kleverwal have been of great assistance in terms of prodding those few journal sponsors and advertisers who have yet to pay and in reminding anyone with outstanding expenses to submit their invoices. It is my plan to have all Association financial matters for 2009 completed by December 15th.
I am pleased to report that the Association's investment portfolio has rebounded during 2009. I trust that all members will be encouraged by the figures that I will present after the close of the year.
My wishes to all of you for a productive and healthy 2010.
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European Federation of WPSA
The European Federation has planned a number of conferences between now and the end of 2010. The conferences are listed at the end of this Newsletter and contact information is available on the WPSA website (www.wpsa.com). News from a number of the Federation’s working groups are provided below.
WPSA European Working Group News
WG1: The European Federation’s Working Group 1 on Poultry Economics and Marketing held its second round table meeting in Antwerp, Belgium on 1st and 2nd of October, 2009. Working Group 1 organised this meeting together with the Belgium Branch of WPSA. On the first day there was a public session where, besides the working group’s members, WPSA members from Belgium, The Netherlands, and the North of France were invited. Around 50 people attended this meeting. After the opening by Peter van Horne, the Chair of WG1, a key note speaker, Dr. Dan Cunningham from the University of Georgia gave a presentation on broiler production economics in the USA. His presentation was followed by presentations on competitiveness by Peter van Horne (LEI Wageningen UR); Professor Viaene (University of Ghent) on chain management; and by Pascale Magdelaine (ITAVI) on trends in marketing. After those presentations, questions were taken and a good discussion was held.
On the second day the working group had a closed meeting on three main topics: 1) poultry production in Southeast Europe, 2) economics of animal welfare, and 3) on the marketing of poultry meat and eggs. Special attention was given to two new members who gave excellent presentations on the poultry industry in their countries: Vesna Rodic of the University of Novi Sad in Serbia, and Halit Cinar of the Ministry of Agriculture in Ankara, Turkey. Being a relatively small group with only 16 members from 11 countries with a clear interest in poultry economics there was a good interaction among the members in exchanging information, research methods and ideas. Following this successful meeting, a 3rd round table meeting was proposed for October, 2011. The chairman would like to express his thanks to the Province of Antwerp and the Proefbedrijf voor Veehouderij for hosting the 2nd round table, and especially to Johan Zoons in making all the arrangements.
For information contact the chairman of WG1 Peter van Horne at peter.vanhorne@wur.nl.
WG2: The European Federation's Working Group 2 will co-host the 18th European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition with the Turkish Branch in Cesme, Turkey in 2011. See the Turkey Branch report for further details.
WG3: The European Federation’s Working Group 3 on Breeding and Genetics hosted the VI European Poultry Genetics Symposium on 30th September – 2nd October, 2009, in Bedlewo near Poznan, Poland. Among the 73 participants (from 17 European countries, USA and Asia), there were representatives of academia as well as the poultry breeding industry. A wide spectrum of topics was covered including the optimal use of genetic markers in selection, the analysis of genetic diversity in poultry, and the genetic background of egg quality. Invited speakers included: Prof.Dr. L. Andersson (Sweden), Dr. S. Avendano (Great Britain), Dr. H. Chapuis (France), Prof.Dr. J. Dekkers (USA), Dr. D.J. de Konning (Great Britain), Dr. I. Hoffmann (FAO representative), Prof.Dr. H. Simianer (Germany), Prof.Dr. J. Vilkki (Finland), Prof.Dr. S. Wężyk (Poland) and Dr. A. Wolc (Poland). The meeting also included a very fruitful poster session and 27 short communications grouped into four research areas: namely, diseases (5), diversity (7), morphology (3), QTLs (6), and the selection of eggs (6). In accordance with tradition, a workshop was held for the representatives of the poultry breeding industry chaired by Prof.Dr. R. Preisinger.
The symposium was organised by the Poznan Branch of the Polish Society for Animal Production, European WPSA Working Group 3 on Breeding and Genetics, the Polish Branch of WPSA in collaboration with Marshal of the Wielkopolska Region, Polish Academy of Science, and the Poznan University of Life Sciences. The next symposium will be held in 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Steffen Weigend, Chairman of WPSA’s European Working Group 3 “Genetics and Breeding ”
Tomasz Szwaczkowski, Local organizer of the 6-th EPGS
WG5: The European Federation’s Working Group 5 on Poultry Meat has prepared a working paper on a recommendation of methods to be used for determining poultry meat quality characteristics. The draft version of the paper has been accessible on the homepage of WPSA (www.wpsa.com) since the summer of 2009. People interested in adding their knowledge and expertise to this paper are welcomed and are requested to send their comments and amendments to the chairman of the Working Group (Michael Grashorn, Grashorn@uni-hohenheim.de). Discussion will still be open till March 2010. Thereafter, the paper will be published in an esteemed journal. You can download the paper here.
As poultry meat production and consumption is increasing all over the World, the Working Group decided during the XIX European Symposium on the Quality of Poultry Meat in Turku, Finland, during the summer of 2009 to open the group for all WPSA members dealing with poultry meat quality irrespective of their home country. Interested people are requested to contact the chairman of the Working Group (Michael Grashorn; grashorn@uni-hohenheim.de) for further information.
The next symposium of Working Group 5 will probably take place in parallel with the symposium of WG 4 ‘Quality of Eggs and Egg Products’ on September 4 to 7, 2011 in Leipzig, Germany. It is planned to have scientific sessions on the first three days and excursions on the last day. More details will be shown on the homepage of the conference (www.eggmeat2011.de) which will be accessible from spring 2010 on.
Michael Grashorn, Chairman Working Group 5
WG10: The European Federation’s Working Group 10 on Turkey Production and the Institute of Poultry Diseases, Free University Berlin, organized and held the 5th International Symposium on Turkey Production: Toward better Welfare and Health (Meeting of the Working group 10 -Turkey) on the 28th – 30th May, 2009. The symposium was held to stimulate the exchange of current information and ideas related to turkey production and to help focus attention on specific problems, and to encourage new approaches to solving them.
At the symposium, 40 oral presentations in 7 main sections were held. The first was devoted to topics related to turkey production and rearing management including biosecurity. Sections 2 and 3 were respectively concerned turkey nutrition and animal welfare. Sections 4 and 5 dealt with production and intestinal integrity. Sections 6 and 7 addressed miscellaneous health disorders, which impair turkey production. One hundred and ninety one scientists and experts from 21 countries (Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, The Netherlands, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States of America) attended the symposium.
It is my sincere pleasure to acknowledge all the speakers for their co-operation and willingness to share their expertise with the global turkey family. I also wish to use this opportunity to express my appreciation for our sponsors. I am most grateful for their generosity, which was essential to conduct a meeting with such broad participation.
Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to all individuals who worked in the planning and co-ordination of this event, especially the staff of the Institute of Poultry Diseases at the Free University of Berlin. I wish also to thank the publishers for the courtesy and consideration which I have received. A 218 page proceedings with full text is currently in press and will be available this year. I hope that the information presented in this proceeding will be a valuable reference for everybody involved in the turkey production chain.
The 6th International Symposium on Turkey Production will be hold in Berlin, Germany, in June 2011. I hope to see you in Berlin.
Prof. H.M. Hafez, Chairman of the European Federation’s Working Group 10, Turkey Production, Institute of Poultry Diseases, Free University Berlin
Asian Pacific Federation
Asian Pacific Working Group 2 inaugurated: During the 4th World Waterfowl Conference held in India in November, the Asian Pacific Federation’s second working group on waterfowl was officially inaugurated. Points discussed at the meeting included the objectives of the working group, election of officers (postponed to a later date) and venue of the next World Waterfowl conference (also postponed).
Asian Pacific Federation website development: The second phase of development of the APF website is ready to begin. Financial support from the commercial sector by way of sponsorship and advertising is critical and we will be casting around the region to find companies wanting to use the web for this purpose. There will be a variety of advertising levels, like a gold, silver, and bronze system, but at the same time a limited number of advertising “spots.” Any company interested in following up on this should contact their local WPSA branch. Alternatively contact Alan Gibbins, President APF, at e-mail avianag@infogen.net.nz.
Next Asian Pacific Poultry Conference: The Taiwan branch of WPSA will host the 9th APPC during 2011. Watch for details in future newsletters.
We welcome the new Papua New Guinea branch which was inaugurated in November of this year. Our congratulations and thanks to the people who have made this happen.
A second Pacific Island branch will hopefully be up and running next year. Efforts are underway to establish a branch in Fiji.
Alan M. Gibbins
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WPSA Programmes
Providing travel assistance for young WPSA members and students to participate in regional and global WPSA conferences
It is generally agreed that enhancing the educational, research and experience opportunities of young poultry science professional and technical people is critical to the development of more efficient poultry production, whether it is in an intensive technological industry or in smallscale, family production systems. WPSA offers a Travel Scholarship scheme of open competition to facilitate this. It should be stressed that any travel assistance WPSA provides under the scheme is independent of and in addition to that currently provided by the World Poultry Congresses, by Regional Conferences and/or by individual Branches. Its aim is to target and benefit students and young members, including young poultry producers from developing countries and students from developed countries. Applicants must be a member of WPSA for at least six months before they can apply for a Travel Grant. Applications must be accompanied by a short CV.
Deadline: Applicants must submit their applications at least 3 months prior to the meeting.
Application form: Full details and the application forms can be obtained from the WPSA General Secretary’s Office or you can download the application form from the WPSA website (www.wpsa.com).
Send the application form (preferably by e-mail) to the General Secretary of WPSA, Dr Roel Mulder, PO Box 31, 7360 AA Beekbergen, The Netherlands, e-mail: roel.mulder@wpsa.com or wpsa@xs4all.nl, fax: +31 207508941.
Fostering local and regional conferences in the poultry sciences
During the 34th meeting of the Board of WPSA on August 20, 2000 in Montreal, Canada it was recognised that branches in low income countries often do not have sufficient financial resources to fund overseas speakers, and furthermore, expert speakers on certain topics are not always readily available in these countries.
So the Board decided to create a Speakers’ Bureau to assist branches in low income countries to cover the travel costs of expert international speakers. This measure is consistent with the key objective of WPSA to encourage and help facilitate liaison among research scientists and educators, and between those in research and education and those working in the many diverse sectors of the poultry industry. Under the Speakers’ Bureau scheme, WPSA will pay only the cost of air travel (lowest economy class). Local expenses like accommodation are to be paid for by the local organizing branch. WPSA will not pay any honorarium to speakers.
The Speakers’ Bureau is an expensive initiative and it is important that optimum value be obtained from the money spent on travel. This can be achieved by insisting that the visiting speaker provides more than just one paper at a conference. The visiting speaker could contribute in a variety of ways, e.g., present a second paper on a related topic, conduct a workshop for graduate students, have small group or one-on-one interaction, especially with students, visit industry groups, visit university groups, etc.
Unless the Branch (or group of Branches) can pay all the speakers’ costs itself, a speaker should NOT be invited until approval of Speakers’ Bureau funds is made by the WPSA Executive Committee.
Full details and the application forms can be obtained from the WPSA General Secretary’s Office or you can download the application form from the WPSA website (www.wpsa.com).
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Congresses / Symposia
Update on the planning for the 24th World's Poultry Congress to be held on 5-8 August 2012, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
The planning of the 24th World’s Poultry Congress and EXPO continues. This year, WPSA-Brazilian Branch has booked the venue, defined scientific subcommittees and has negotiated more than 60% of the first EXPO pavilion. At the 21st Latin American Congress on Poultry Farming held in October in Cuba – more than 400 promotional folders were distributed and more than 600m2 of booth space were booked.
Early in 2010, the core structure of scientific programme and general framework of the event will be finalized. Members of the WPC 2012 Organizing Committee will be attending the International Poultry Exposition in Atlanta in late January for a concerted effort on the WPC 2012 promotion and booth sales.
For more information visit the website at http://www.wpc2012.com or http://www.wpc2012.com.br.
XIIIth European Poultry Conference
The next European Poultry Conference will take place in France!!
The XIIIth European Poultry Conference will be held from the 23-27th of August 2010 in Tours (France). This event is organized by the French branch of the World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA) with support of the INRA, AFSSA and ITAVI.
This congress which is organized every 4 years, addresses to all facets of poultry production and attracts around 1000 attendees from more than 70 countries. This not to be missed meeting offers a great opportunity to meet experts from all over the world. It allows exchanges of new information on the different aspects of poultry production such as biology and physiology of birds, breeding and rearing systems, nutrition, health, hygiene and food security, pathology, environmental impact, animal welfare, product quality, and industrial processes. Technico-economic domains and poultry education will be also presented. Each theme will have specific sessions organized around an overview, as well as oral communications, posters and plenary discussions.
In addition to the scientific programme, the WPSA will organize technical tours. A special programme for accompanying persons is also scheduled to allow them to discover Tours and its surroundings.
Full information relative to this congress is online at www.epc2010.org.
| Pierre-André Geraert, President WPSA France |
Yves Nys, President Organizing Committee EPC 2010 |
Turkey Science and Production Conference
The 2010 Turkey Science and Production Conference, which is not sponsored by WPSA but which many WPSA members attend, will be held at the Shrigley Hall Hotel, Macclesfield, UK on March 11-12, 2010. Details for the conference programme and registration are available at www.turkeytimes.co.uk. If you wish to receive further information, send an e-mail to 2010@turkeytimes.co.uk. Please note that the earlier than usual date for this conference this year is due to a conflict with the usual dates with this year’s dates for VIV Europe.
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Report on Think-tank Meeting on Poultry Production Systems
Freising, Germany, 19th June 2009
A “think-tank” meeting was held in Freising, near Munich, on 19th June, 2009 to discuss social equity and sustainability issues relating to the present systems employed globally in the production of poultry meat and eggs. Participation at the meeting was by invitation and included representatives from the poultry industry, the poultry research community, FAO and WPSA.
List of organizer-participants:
| Professor John Hodges Professor Dietmar Flock Professor Prabhu Guptara |
Joint convenor Joint convenor Facilitator |
Author on genetics and sustainability Poultry breeder and researcher Exec Director, UBS Centrd |
List of participants:
Dr. Jim McKay |
Poultry breeder |
Aviagen |
Background
The meeting arose from an invitation issued by Dr. John Hodges, an agricultural researcher and author on genetics and sustainability, during the presentation of his keynote address “Emerging boundaries for poultry production: Challenges, opportunities and dangers” at the 23rd World’s Poultry Congress in Brisbane on 30 June 2008. He challenged the industry to examine its practices from social equity and sustainability perspectives. Dr. Dietmar Flock, Poultry breeder and Past President of the European Federation of WPSA, subsequently initiated discussions with Dr. Hodges which led to the organization of the think tank meeting in Freising, Germany. The meeting was facilitated by Professor Prabhu Guptara, Executive Director, Wolfsberg the UBS Platform for Executive and Business Development, Switzerland.
The think tank approach was adopted because of its use as a medium for considering an area of activity suggested as being in need of change due to lack of sustainability or other negative features. The approach allows an opportunity for everyone present to contribute under the guidance of the facilitator “whose task is not to define what is permissible, but to enable all ideas to be presented, debated and discussed profitably”.
Procedure: Following a brief introduction from Dr. Hodges wherein he stated the broad objective of the think tank approach was to “turn knowledge into wisdom”, he suggested that the impact of the present global poultry production system on such factors as the environment, human health, and bird health and welfare was under serious question by society in developed as well as developing countries. He called attention to the loss of historical values, exemplified by foreign capital buying up land as a modern kind of "colonialism". He challenged participants to look at problems with present practices and to consider options and consequences of change likely to impact positively on the future sustainability of poultry production and on the wellbeing of humans and poultry alike.
Perceptions about poultry production practices: Participants were then asked to list their own and perceived societal “concerns” about poultry production. The main focus of societal concerns appears to be on large-scale poultry production systems in both developed and developing countries, as these are seen as the main contributors to production of poultry meat and eggs globally and as the “models” adopted by the industry in developing countries. There is good evidence for societal concern about the impact of replacement of existing production systems in developing countries and about practices in all production systems.
The following specific concerns were listed: (1) diseases and food safety, (2) welfare of animals, (3) environment, (4) loss of biodiversity, (5) IPR / patents, (6) small producers, (7) "churn" – concentration of ownership. This was followed by an in depth discussion of the reasons for the concerns expressed by society. It was accepted that irrespective of the objectivity of the reasoning behind such expressions of concern, the industry needed to deal with these issues.
It was noted and acknowledged that significant improvements have been made over the years and continue to be made by the industry in many of the areas, e.g. in bird health and welfare, environmental impact and in product safety, but these are still areas of considerable ongoing societal concern.
Participants were asked to priorities the areas that require to be addressed by industry. From the discussion, concerns in the order of priority were:
(1) food safety (issues: government’s actions to reduce zoonotic diseases, consumer requirement for safe food from healthy animals); (2) food quality (issues: traceability of products, regional origin, minimal treatment of animals and products – but also the need for “convenient” and low price foods); (3) welfare of animals (issues: the practice of killing day-old male chicks of egg-type chickens; cage vs. floor production; is welfare compromised by breeding for efficient production of meat and eggs?); (4) environment (issues: impact in relation to regional concentration of people and animals, increased productivity of animals); (5) loss of employment opportunities in rural societies (issues: urbanization and industrial production of cheaper food; import of subsidized/surplus products;
(6) loss of biodiversity (issues: how to avoid mixing adapted local populations with “exotic” imported strains?)
A range of issues related to the above concerns was discussed. These included:
- The need to establish a dialogue with WTO decision makers to emphasise the negative social implications of “free trade” of agricultural products. The need for greater transparency on who benefits from free trade and trade restrictions.
- The critical role of micro-loans in improving the efficiency of small-scale (commercial) poultry farming in developing countries.
- HPAI in developing countries: the marked differential impact of HPAI on the different production sectors in most countries.
- Risks and benefits of vertical integration in developing countries.
- To counter the loss of public support for the industry: the role that industry, FAO and/ or WPSA can play in educating the public, de-bunking misinformation and establishing a more direct dialogue between producers and consumers
Following a discussion of the perceived problems and concerns, the group spent some time listing areas of successachieved by the commercial poultry industry globally. These were:
- Improved feed utilisation efficiency: less land needed to produce poultry meat & eggs and reduced impact on the environment due to improved feed efficiency.
- Improved food safety and quality: strict regulations and QS monitoring systems
- Food security: world-wide distribution and availability
- Release of capital for other goods: education, environment, infrastructure
- Employment: specialized jobs in production, further processing, distribution etc.
It was considered regrettable that these very considerable successes have been overshadowed by the perceived areas of concern, many of which have been exaggerated.
Poultry production in developing countries: Since one of the main focuses of the think tank was on the impact of present poultry production practices on social equity issues in the developing world, it was seen as important to define the poultry production systems in use in the developing countries of the world, the impact of these on the people, the sustainability of the systems and the nature and drivers of transition from one system to another. For purposes of discussion, the FAO classification that was originally developed for categorizing the different biosecurity systems (and later lost importance for this purpose) was adapted. Applying a similar classification on the husbandry and feeding aspects rather than biosecurity, sector 1 is large scale commercial production (“improved” genotypes, large scale, sophisticated facilities and equipment with automated systems and feeding with compounded diets), sector 2 medium scale commercial (similar to sector 1 but smaller and somewhat less sophisticated, less automation); sector 3 small-scale commercial (small flocks of “improved “ genotypes mostly local materials in facilities, no automation but provision of compounded diets often formulated from local materials) , and sector 4 (small semi-scavenging flocks of indigenous birds, typically given household scraps and a small amount of grain daily).
Members agreed that the structure of the poultry industry with regards to sector proportion varied widely between the different developing countries and also that there was variation between the drivers for transition from one sector to the other. In the poorer developing countries, many families in rural regions have a household flock of indigenous scavenging chickens (sector 4 production system) which are kept to improve their nutrition and livelihoods. These are the only poultry meat and eggs that the majority of these families ever eat. As they are not dependent upon supplies of poultry feedstuffs or improved genotypes from outside, they are essentially unaffected by changes in the other sectors of production. Very few of them aspire to becoming larger scale commercial producers, and indeed there are limited opportunities to do so. The system is very low input and output, but because the food supplied to the birds is essentially “free”, it can be an economically efficient production system, particularly with small cost-effective inputs into management and disease control which reduce chick attrition and bird mortality generally. Because of the perceived role of scavenging poultry in the transmission of HPAI, however, many countries are looking at regulations relating to the control and restriction of small-scale scavenging production, with potentially profound impact upon this large but mostly very poor sector of the country. In view of HPAI and similar risks, the group considered it mandatory that governments, commercial companies and family poultry organizations work closely together to minimize risks of disease transmission and also minimise the detrimental impact of disease “stamping out” procedures on the very poorest members of society.
It was recognized that the provision of affordable and good quality poultry meat and eggs for the urban dwellers in developing countries, was dependent upon efficient production systems. In terms of domestic production, it was acknowledged that this essentially involves the use of “improved” meat or egg genotypes and the provision of compounded feeds. Given that feed accounts for about 70% of the cost of production, a critical element in this is a ready access to affordable and high quality feedstuff ingredients, whether they be locally produced or imported. The group discussed the factors involved in defining the scale and type of production that might best meet the requirements for the sustainable supply of affordable and safe poultry meat and eggs and preferably where the farming community was able to make a meaningful and profitable contribution. The group recognized that the issue was exceedingly complex and that the optimum balance was likely to differ considerably from country to country.
The role of small-scale commercial production (sector 3) was considered. It was recognized that this has the potential to impact positively upon local involvement in production and social equity issues, but in practice there are often problems with competition with larger scale sector 1 and 2 production in terms of access to and price of feedstuffs, stock and pharmaceuticals, and access to processing facilities and the larger markets. Such systems can operate effectively where there are niche markets, but they are often squeezed and find it very difficult to compete on price with the larger units without completely devaluing their own labour costs.
Against this impression that many small scale commercial producers are being squeezed out by large companies who “colonize” the markets in big cities, the representatives of the poultry breeding industry participating in the PTT suggested that the industry has no reason to oppose programmes designed to support small scale production. They expect that the industry will benefit from increasing purchasing power and corresponding demand for poultry meat and eggs in the urban areas of developing countries. Availability of food at low price will free available income for other goods, including education.
The group considered the impact of imported poultry products in developing countries - on the population generally and on incentives to develop a domestic poultry industry. In developing countries such imports often retail at below the cost of local production of the equivalent product, and the development of a competitive local industry requires proper planning and considerable human and material resource inputs. A critical element in this is the country’s capacity to produce suitable feedstuff ingredients at competitive prices which are either not used for human nutrition or which are surplus to those needs.
Loss of biodiversity and genetic conservation: Participants recognized the concern that the global commercial poultry industry was based on relatively few highly selected lines and that there was a danger of these lines being lost either due to genetic susceptibility to new disease organisms or simply to infection of flocks with existing notifiable diseases (e.g. HPAI) requiring destruction of the flocks in question. The group was reassured that the manner in which the global breeding companies are structured with broad geographical distribution of flocks, means that impact from the latter risk was minimal. Breeders also keep a number of back-up lines which mitigates the former risk. None-the-less it was recognized that there is justifiable concern that crosses of modern commercial lines are not necessarily well suited to production in sub-optimal conditions (physical, nutritional and disease-challenge wise) in developing countries and that efforts need to be made by breeders to provide stock which perform well in these environments. The chief factor here would appear to be heat tolerance.
In developed countries, the group recognized that the very large number of poultry pure breed “fanciers” is a valuable source of considerable genetic variation that might be used to meet specific future demands. The same applies to the many “breeds” of indigenous chickens in use in small-scale semi scavenging production systems throughout the developing countries of the world. One should note, however, that many of these “breeds” are subject to indiscriminate crossbreeding, the extent of which varies between regions and countries.
Broadening input from other stakeholders: It was recognized that the assembled group had only a small fraction of the expertise and experience required for a fully comprehensive evaluation of the global poultry industry as it presently is, and what the impact of proposed changes might be on the long-term efficiency and sustainability of the industry. Input from the following stakeholders was considered desirable:
- regulatory bodies like WTO, OIE
- civil society and research organizations: NGOs; economists, bankers, systems thinkers, consumer organizations; human and poultry nutritionists
- industry representatives: large and small producers, integrators; coops, retailers
- down- and upstream suppliers: veterinarians, the pharmaceutical and feed industries
FAO representatives proposed to organize a follow-up meeting with a wider range of stakeholders.
Potential role of industry, FAO, WPSA and others: The group considered the role that industry, FAO, WPSA and others might play in improving the long-term sustainability of the global poultry industry, particularly through its contacts in the developing countries of the world. Possible areas of influence were:
- Technical input from the large international breeding companies in disease control, nutrition and the adaptation of buildings and equipment to local conditions for the development of regional poultry production.
- Linking with international funding bodies and NGOs to provide guidance on poultry development projects. For example, FAO has recently been involved in discussions with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on the potential role of animal breeding to improve food security and reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, and WPSA was also recently involved in similar discussions specifically focused on small-scale poultry production in the same region.
- In similar vein, make better use of the technical expertise in WPSA, FAO and industry as advisers to NGO projects involving poultry in developing countries. Frequently, poultry form part of village focussed agricultural development projects, but there is often limited poultry production expertise in NGO teams and poor advice is common, not only from smaller NGOs. We need to be proactive in establishing links with NGOs globally.
- Establish better linkages between all groups in support of small-scale poultry production in developing countries. A proposal to establish an over-arching group Poulet Sans Frontieres” linking these bodies (FAO, INFPD, WPSA, IPRC, DNSPD etc) was discussed at WPC2008 in Brisbane in July 2008 (WPSJ (2009) 65: 298-305.
- Establish greater links between commercial and small-scale family poultry production in developing countries, e.g. moves are underway to form a (sub-Saharan) African Network, the aim of which is to address the constraints to poultry research capability and the development of the poultry industry in Africa. The inaugural meeting of the network will be held at a workshop to follow the European Poultry Conference in Tours, France in August 2010.
Further action
FAO has undertaken to develop a concept note on how sectors 1 and 2 can assist in the development and efficiency of sector 3 production in developing countries. They will liaise with the poultry industry and WPSA to establish a list of senior experts (including retirees) in the different fields of poultry production and prepare proposals for the secondment of these experts by their organizations.
WPSA is in discussion with experts on animal production systems in developing countries with a view to provide an overview of success stories on sustainable and profitable poultry production using largely local resources. The aim is to define the elements of successful, sustainable and profitable production in the different situations.
WPSA and FAO are jointly involved in support for sustainable development of the poultry industry in developing countries though the organization of sessions on “Guidance for the poultry sector – issues and options” and “Family Poultry Production” at the 13th European Poultry Conference (EPC) in Tours, France in August 2010.
The two organisations are also involved specifically in support for the development of the poultry industry and of poultry research capability in sub-Saharan Africa through the establishment of the African Poultry Network at a workshop in Tours immediately following EPC2010.
It is proposed that the next Poultry Think Tank meeting involving a wider range of stakeholders will be held at VIV Europe in Utrecht, the Netherlands in April 2010.
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WPSA Branch News
Argentina
The Argentinean Branch has been invited to serve on the Scientific Committee for the 22nd Latin-American Poultry Congress that will be held in Buenos Aires City, Argentina, between September 6th and 9th of 2011. This event will have the slogan “Latin-American, world food reserve in harmony with the environment”.
This is the first time that the Branch has received an invitation to participate in the organization of a regional event, which shows that not only have we had great growth in the number of branch members since 2001, but that we have gained the respect of and a better relationship with the poultry industry.
The Argentinean Branch Board has designated four members to represent it on this planning Committee: Julian Melo (Universidad de Buenos Aires), Mauricio De Franceschi (Universidad Nacional de Luján), Dante Bueno (Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria) and Hebe Barrios (Universidad Nacional de Luján).
On November, 12th of 2009 the first meeting of this Committee was held with Marcelo Schang, president of the Scientific Committee, and Honorary President of the Argentinean Branch of WPSA.
Bernardo F. Iglesias
Australia
The Australian Branch of WPSA, together with the Poultry Research Foundation of Sydney University are organizing The Australian Poultry Science Symposium that will be held on the 1st - 3rd February, 2010 at the Veterinary Science Conference Centre, University of Sydney. The information regarding the sessions, speakers, registration deadline and venue can be found on the website, http://www.vetsci.usyd.edu.au/apss/program.shtml.
Please contact Jo-Ann Geist, at: jogeist@camden.usyd.edu.au.
The Australian Branch of WSPA has a new website which is up and functioning. Please visit http://www.poultryhub.org/index.php/WPSA_Australia.
Julie Roberts, Branch President
Kapil Chousalkar, Branch Secretary
Brazil
The Brazil Branch has just completed its last event of the year, hosting the Workshop “Current Situation and Future of Infectious Bronchitis in the Brazilian Poultry Industry” that was held in Campinas, Brazil, on December 2-3. More than 140 selected professionals form the Brazilian poultry industry attended the event, with speakers from 5 countries - an overall big success. A summary of this event will be published in a special issue of the Brazilian Journal of Poultry Science in 2010.
The organizational work for the 2010 Annual FACTA-WPSA Brazil Conference is also ongoing alongside with the WPC 2012 planning. The FACTA-WPSA Brazil Conference is one of the most well-respected and comprehensive scientific poultry events in Latin America and will take place in May 2010 in the city of Santos, São Paulo state, Brazil.
Mariana Castrillon, Communications Assistant, FACTA/ WPSA Brazilian Branch
Germany
2009 was a very successful year for the German branch in terms of growing membership: starting with 357 at the end of 2008 and currently 376 - the ambitious target for next year is 400+.
The annual meeting was held this year on the 17th and 18th March in Vechta, the centre of the “Silicon Valley” for the German Poultry Industry. The scientific programme covered a range of current topics around poultry welfare, egg quality and HPAI and attracted not only WPSA members, but also professionals from the nearby industry, several of which subsequently joined the WPSA.
Following the tradition of having an organized tour in the autumn of odd years, a group of 15 members and guests of the German Branch visited poultry facilities in Austria and Slovenia in late September to early October. Sight-seeing in and around Klagenfurt and Ljubljana added pleasant impressions to remember. It is hoped that our visit to Slovenia will also contribute toward the establishment of a new branch in the near future.
The 2010 annual meeting is scheduled for 16th – 17th March in Düsseldorf, where we will intensify our contacts with fancy breeders and visit the research unit in Sinsteden, where students from the Medical Faculty use poultry as experimental animals for brain research.
Several of our members are actively involved in preparing the programme for the upcoming European Poultry Conference in Tours 2010, and the German branch will again support the EPC2010 by offering travel grants for young scientists with accepted contributions.
Anke Forster and Dietmar Flock
India
The India Branch of WPSA and the Centre for Advance Studies in Poultry Science, Kerala Agricultural University at Mannuthy, Kerala, India, under the auspices of the Asia-Pacific Federation of WPSA, organized and conducted the IV World Water Fowl Conference on the 11th through the 13th of November, 2009. The Conference was inaugurated by H.E. Governor of Kerala State.
About 200 individuals were in attendance, including delegates from Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Taiwan, and The Netherlands. The theme for the Conference was “Water Fowl Production for Food Security”. The main focus of the conference was on issues currently related to research on the production of water fowl. The technical programme was structured around a plenary session and concurrent symposia on a wide variety of topics with invited speakers from all over the world. Fifty-five poster presentations were also made during the Conference.
The plenary papers were presented by International as well as Indian Scientists. Six scientific sessions were arranged including: Genetic Resources and Breeding; Nutrition, Physiology and Reproduction; Production Systems; Housing and Management; Bio Security, Diseases and Welfare; and Product Processing, Quality and Safety. In addition to the opening theme paper and the six lead papers for the different sessions, there were approximately 56 other oral presentations in the different sessions. The Conference also had a Poster Session in which about 55 Posters on different topics were presented. On the last day of the conference, a visit to a large Duck farm, where the ducks are reared in the open was available to the conference delegates.
There was also a Farmers’ Seminar held in Kuttanad, the Chief Duck rearing area of Kerala, with about 150 – 200 duck farmers participating in the seminar.
All of the delegates were very happy with the Conference and thanked the Organizers for arranging such a wonderful Conference.
Dr. A.L. Bhagwat, Secretary, India Branch
Japan
The Japan Poultry Science Association (JPSA) organizes semi-annual meetings. The 2009 fall meeting was held at the University of Ryukyus, Okinawa Prefecture, on September 26th and 27th. The meeting consisted of a public symposium entitled “Current situation of Dermanyssus gallinae damage and its countermeasure.” The Conference included 56 paper presentations, as well as council and general membership meetings. A JPSA international exchange committee was inaugurated to enhance international activities. The chairperson for the committee is T. Ono, Secretary of Japanese Branch of WPSA.
The 2009 JPSA Prize was presented to Takashi Bungo, Hiroshima University, for his research on the central regulation of feeding behaviour in neonatal chicks. Two 2009 Outstanding Paper Awards were made for publications in the Journal of Poultry Science (JPS) during 2008. They included: T. Suzuki, J. Noguchi, M. Kitamura, and H. Fujisaki for their publication entitled “Effects of a newly developed early post-hatch feed for poultry hatchlings on the performance of poultry,” JPS 45: 39-45, and Y. Atsumi, T. Tagami, H. Kagami, and T. Ono for their publication entitled “Restriction of germline proliferation by soft X-ray irradiation of chicken embryos and its application to chimera production,” JPS 45: 292-297.
The 2010 spring meeting will be held in Surugadai Campus, Meiji University, Tokyo on March 30th.
Dr. Tamao Ono, Secretary, WPSA Japanese Branch
Malaysia
The Malaysian Branch has hosted a number of activities during the past few months. These included the Branch’s participation in the Livestock Asia 2009 conference that was held at KLCC, Malaysia on October 27th. The Branch also presented several awards to industry groups and individuals on October 27th at KLCC who have made significant contributions to the development and advancement of the poultry industry. These included an Industry Excellence Award given to the Bank Rakyat, Malaysia, and Individual Excellence Awards that were given to: Professor Dr. Zulkifli Idrus (University Putra of Malaysia), Professor Dr. Mohd. Hair Bejo (University Putra of Malaysia), and Dr. Lim Eng Soon from the private sector.
A joint dinner of the Malaysia Branch was held with the Malaysia Association of Food Animal Veterinarians (MAFAV) on October 28, 2009 at the Top Hats Restaurant, in Kuala Lumpur. The annual General Meeting of the Branch for 2009 was also held on October 28, 2009 at KLCC, Kuala Lumpur.
Dr. Teo Kim Lai, Secretary, WPSA Malaysia Branch
New Zealand
The New Zealand branch will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2010, and it is planning a special celebration at the New Zealand Poultry Conference that will take place on 12 & 13 October in Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand.
Alan Gibbins
South Africa
The South African Branch hosted its annual 28th Scientific Day, 2009, on the 8th of October 2009, at the CSIR Convention Centre, Pretoria. The conference theme was: “Issues Concerning Leg Weakness in Broilers.”
Leg issues and bone weakness problems that have beset the Poultry Industry in South Africa for some time, have a major impact on welfare, food safety, and production costs. Theories abound as to the cause and treatment of these problems. The South African Branch of the WPSA this year put together a programme for their annual Scientific Day that addressed these issues, making use of internationally renowned poultry scientists as well as local veterinarians and researchers. Those attending the meeting were enlightened by the presentations, and were encouraged by the amount of research that has targeted this topic.
Dr Edgar Oviedo of North Carolina State University is an expert on the problem, having written an extensive review of factors responsible for weak legs in broilers, and he opened proceedings with an overview of those issues. Some investigators have suggested that the problem may be related to the use of phytases in broiler feeds, and Dr. Craig Coon of Danisco discussed this issue, addressing the misconceptions about the application of phytases in broiler nutrition. Dr. Mickael Rouault of Biomin had prepared a paper on the case for the involvement of mycotoxins in causing legs problems in broilers, which was presented by Andrew Robertson. In a presentation by Rob Gous evidence was given of the involvement of daylength in bone strength of broilers.
Three veterinarians Drs. Jean du Toit, Roger Horner and Frank Travers presented case studies of leg problems they have had to deal with in broilers in South Africa, and this was followed by a lively discussion session that helped in identifying the causative factors involved.
Two additional presentations were given at the end of the afternoon which had nothing to do with leg weakness in broilers. Dr. Oviedo presented a second talk, this time on energy efficiency in broiler production, a topical subject in the present economic and energy climate. This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Nilva Sakomura of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, who has been working together with Rob Gous on evaluating the efficiency of utilisation of amino acids by different genotypes used in the Poultry Industry, This is another issue of topical interest given the importance attributed to modelling in improving the efficiency of poultry production.
Over 200 delegates attended the meeting, many from the countries bordering South Africa.
Rob Gous, President, South African Branch
Tanzania
The Tanzanian Branch hosted its annual general meeting, and the 2nd WPSA Tanzania Branch Conference on “Biosecurity and Poultry Development in Tanzania” on 30th September 2009 at the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Dar-es Salaam. In addition to receiving and discussing reports of routine branch activities during the annual meeting, the branch conducted an election of branch officers and re-elected the following in their respective positions: President; Prof. U. M. Minga; Vice President, Dr. F. Akaro; Secretary, Prof A.P. Muhairwa; and Treasurer, Dr. H. Mrema.
The theme of 2nd WPSA Tanzania Branch Conference was ‘Biosecurity and Poultry Development in Tanzania’. Over 30 delegates were invited including private entrepreneurs who are with the hatchery and feed industries. The delegates learned about the risk of poor biosecurity and how it is affecting poultry development in Tanzania. Discussions on the challenges of disease outbreaks in poultry production and practical solutions needed by the industry, were held with the state personnel and researchers in attendance.
The conference was chaired by branch president, Prof. U.M. Minga. Four speakers drawn from both academia and research were on hand to deliver the main conference lectures, and they highlighted biosecurity and other possible challenges for the industry, including:
Poultry production systems and biosecurity in East Africa- U. M. Minga
Transmission and control of poultry diseases hatchery-borne & vertically transmitted diseases - A. Benigni
A retrospective study of poultry diseases occurring at Central Veterinary Laboratory Tanzania- H. Msami
Poultry improvement programme of USDA: what lessons does it provide to Tanzania? A.P. Muhairwa
The conferees also deliberated and adopted the following: That the WPSA Tanzania Branch should steer the formation of affiliated associations such as that of poultry producers, which can form a platform for the dissemination of information on the role of biosecurity role in poultry production, and on the development of the poultry industry in Tanzania. Mass education on biosecurity and poultry keeping is needed in Tanzania. The Tanzania Branch will search for and assess information that is relevant to poultry production in Tanzania.
Additional information is also needed by the industry regarding disease control, vaccination and biosecurity. WPSA should play a significant role in advising both producers and Government officials on recommended measures for disease control.
U.M. Minga, President; and A.P. Muhairwa, Secretary, Tanzania Branch
Togo
The Togolese branch of World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA-Togo) organized its first symposium entitled “Promoting of poultry industry in Sub-Saharan African countries” This symposium took place at Campus of University of Lome, Togo on August 21, 2009. Almost, 90 delegates from Ghana, Benin and Togo attended the seminar. These participants included poultry farmers, feed millers, hatchery managers, academics and researchers. Also, Professor E. Decuypere from Belgium and Dr. P. Simons were present at this symposium as very important poultry science personalities. Prior to and after the symposium day, Dr. Simons and Prof. Decuypere toured several poultry farms in Togo in order to become familiar with local poultry production systems.
The opening ceremony had several important individuals present including the Minister of “Enseignement Supérieur et la Recherche”. Five presentations were made during the opening session including one by: Professor Gbeassor (WPSA-Togo President), one by, Professor Decuypere as promoter of inter-university project between University of Lome and Catholic University of Leuven and as the president of WPSA-Belgium, one by Dr. Piet Simons as representative of WPSA, one by a representative of the General Director of the “Institut de Conseil et Appui Techniques,” and one by the Minister of “Enseignement Supérieur et la Recherche”.
The second part of the symposium involved communications and discussions. Besides country reports (Benin, Ghana and Togo), four experienced speakers from both international and national academia and poultry industry highlighted bottlenecks involved in the African poultry industry with regard to several aspects of management practices (feeding and nutrition, moulting, incubation and chick quality, implications for the African poultry industry. The scientific programme focused on 6 main communications, and the session was chaired by Prof. Gbeassor.
Evolution of poultry production in the world and implications for the African continent by Dr. P. Simons: Dr. Simons pointed out that poultry meat and meat and eggs are a world-wide food source. He provided relevant statistics about poultry meat and eggs production and consumption in different parts of the world, and especially in African countries. His talk pointed out to the participants the relative lack of progress for the poultry industry in Africa.
Double purpose chickens and longevity in laying hens: possibilities for improving poultry production by Prof E. Decuypere: Hiscommunication focused on two important aspects of poultry production. He first talked about the use of cockerels for poultry meat production in an African context. Second, he pointed out that induced moulting of old layers should be considered as a way of extending the layers lifespan, and thereby reducing day-old chick supply problems. He described two different moulting processes and their advantages and disadvantages. The participants, especially poultry farmers showed high interest to this talk by asking several questions for clarifications.
Incubation aspects and chick quality by Dr Tona: He discussed the characteristics of good chick quality and the relationship between chick quality and post-hatch performance. He also focused on different factors than can affect chick quality. Especially, how to assess chick quality, and the effects that pre-incubation and incubation factors have on chick quality.
Poultry breeds and their various nutritional requirements for optimum production in the hot humid topics by G.G. Anku: This speaker provided an overview of the chickens nutritional requirements with regard to levels of crude protein, metabolisable energy, fibre, calcium, salt, methionine, lysine, and total and available phosphorus. He then discussed the importance of differential nutritional requirements according to genotype.
Effect of delayed feed access on layer chick production parameters and blood metabolites by Dr. Tona: Dr. Tona presented research results from the Laboratory of Poultry Science, University of Lome (VLIR project). He pointed out the negative effects of long delays for access to feed on chick weight loss during holding time, chick juvenile growth rate and plasma concentrations in glucose, total protein and triglyceride. He recommended that poultry farmers have access to a supply of day-old chicks from a hatchery close to their farms. He encourage the establishment of more hatcheries in African countries.
Layer nutrition management by Prof. Decuypere: Prof. Decuypere talked about the effects of nutritional managements on the growth of layer-type chickens, and their expected body weights and age and sexual maturity. Also, he focused his talk on energy and protein evaluation and utilisation and nutritional predictability of feeds and feed ingredients. Environmental conditions such as temperature and lighting programme effects on layer chicken performances were also discussed. He also pointed out the importance of anti-nutritional factors from some feed ingredients.
Debates after the communications were very rich and instructive showing the interest of the participants for the topic developed by the speakers.
The following day, there was a short but very instructive meeting between Dr. Simons, Prof. Decuypere and the staffs of the branches of WPSA of Benin, Ghana and Togo. During this meeting Dr. Simons focused on how different branches have to work hard for WPSA promotion, and the opportunities by which the branches can profit from being a part of the world-wide association.
At the end, we all recognized that the symposium was fruitful and we agreed to repeat this experience (symposium) on a yearly basis and alternatively from country to country.
It is important to acknowledge WPSA, VLIR project and PFID/ICAT for supporting financially the organization of this symposium.
Tona Kokou
The 2nd Mediterranean Summit of WPSA was hosted by the WPSA Turkish branch and the Mediterranean Network of WPSA of Working Group 11 (Education and Information) of the European Federation of WPSA in Antalya, Turkey from 4-7 October 2009. The conference was opened with remarks from Professor Dr. Rüveyde Akbay (President of the WPSA Turkish Branch and Past President of WPSA), Professor Dr. Achille Franchini (President of the WPSA European Federation and President of the WPSA Italian Branch), Professor Dr. Robert Pym (President of the worldwide WPSA) and Professor Dr. H.M. Hafez (President of the World Veterinary Poultry Science Association) who focused on the establishment of the Mediterranean Network of WPSA under Working Group 11. During the symposium, nine main topics were discussed with a total of nine invited speakers, 26 oral presentations, 21 short oral poster presentations, and 62 poster presentations. A proceedings was produced for the summit contains the full texts of all of the presentations.
We hope that the “Mediterranean Summit of WPSA” will mark the beginning of further collaboration among Mediterranean countries and will contribute enormously to the development of new WPSA branches in the Mediterranean region.
18th European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition to be held in Çeşme, Turkey in 2011: The Turkish branch of WPSA will host the 18th European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition from October 31 to November 4, 2011 in Çeşme. Çeşme is a charming town with healing mineral springs, excellent beaches, crystal clear waters and sun, perfect for vacationers. It is located 94 km west of Izmir, on the very tip of the peninsula that bears its name.
We look forward to welcoming you to Çeşme, Turkey in October 2011.
Prof. Dr. Servet Yalçın, Secretary of the WPSA Turkish Branch
Ukraine
The Ukrainian Branch of the World’s Poultry Science Association with support of Poultry Institute of Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences, the Union of Poultry Farmers of the Ukraine, and the Kharkov National University by V.N. Karazin, hosted the ІІІ Ukrainian Youth Poultry Conference in honour of the 50th anniversary of the Poultry Institute. The conference was held on August 4-6, 2009 at the Biological Station of the Kharkov National University by V.N. Karazin (Gaydari, Zmiiv district, Kharkov region). The main purpose of the Conference was to provide an opportunity for friendly communication and effective collaboration of young scientists, research workers, and graduate students with specialists from poultry farming and with representatives of poultry industry firms.
During the Conference young scientists and specialists from various scientific establishments and production enterprises of the Ukraine, namely from the Sumy National Agrarian University, the Lviv National Agrarian University, the Lviv National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology by Ggitskiy, the Institute of Agroecology UAAS, the Kharkov National University by V.N. Karazin, the Kharkov State Zooveterinary Academy, the LTD “AgroVet,” research organization “Bread of Ukraine,” and research organization “Agrofirma “Shakhtar” took part.
The president of the Ukraine Branch, Dr. O.V. Tereschenko, welcomed the participants and pointed out that the branch is now 53 years old, having been established in 1966 during the XIII World’s Poultry Congress, and that the Branch is one of the oldest branches from the former Soviet republics. Dr. O.O. Katerinich, a member of the Branch’s Council, told about the history of the Poultry Institute, its modern structure, and he provided a basic summary of its activities.
Taking into account the main subject lines of the Conference, the participants lectures were distributed among the following sections: breeding, selection and genetics; biochemistry, physiology and feeding; technology of keeping and reproduction; veterinary and sanitary science; and economy, management and marketing.
During the conference a competition was conducted with regard to the research presented. Winners of the competition were given valuable presents, and all other participants of the Conference received certificates.
The presentation of those presents and certificates was made on the last day of the conference.
In his closing address, Dr. Tereschenko thanked the main organizers of the Conference, i.e. Dr. N. Shomina and her co-workers for the excellent preparation of the meeting, and especially for the publication of the conference proceedings that includes more than 30 publications by young scientists.
The Ukraine Branch also hosted the X Ukrainian Poultry Conference. The poultry industry is now the most prosperous and swiftly developing industry in the Ukraine. Innovations in the areas of poultry keeping, feeding, and prophylaxis and medical treatment of avian diseases were discussed at conference that was held on September, 15-18, 2009. A number of internationals were in attendance. The conference was held on the hospitable Crimean land, and 352 delegate from 10 countries took part. Most of the attendees were managers and specialists from Ukrainian poultry farms. The other attendees included veterinarians, technology specialists, specialists on poultry feeding and the incubation of eggs, specialists on the supply and sale of poultry related products, and equipment engineers. Attendees were provided with the latest information from both Ukrainian and international scientists, as well as from the hands-on experiences of leading poultry farming enterprises, and from suppliers of genetic stocks, equipment, mixed fodders, feed additives, vitamins, premixes, veterinary and biological preparations to the Ukrainian market
A number of leading Ukrainian and foreign scientists from different institutes and higher educational establishments were invited to participate in the Conference. Seminars held during the conference were devoted to the most relevant questions related to current poultry farming. Other science based lectures were divided into the following sections: i.e. 1) the physiology, biochemistry and feeding of poultry; 2) avian health; 3) the technology of poultry growing, and on 4) genetics and selection.
During the Physiology, biochemistry and feeding section, the topic of feeding amino acids to different kinds of poultry, the setting of requirements for vitamins in the rations of poultry, and methods for improving the availability of various nutrients through the addition of different enzymes to diets and their dependence on the set of ingredients used were considered and discussed. Special attention was also given to questions related to poultry product quality.
Questions on the etiology, epizoology, diagnostics, medical treatment and prophylaxis of avian diseases, caused by helminthes, protozoa, fungi, bacteria and viruses, as well as questions on the development of and applications for new disinfectants were considered and also information about new methods for diagnosing diseases were presented in the Avian Health section Most of the Avian Health lectures concerned the development and application of vaccines, and also the use of chemotherapeutical preparations.
The Genetics section included lectures on avian reproduction, genetics and selection, new principles of selection-pedigree work and questions of further progress in selection.
The Technology of Poultry Growing section was devoted to questions of reproduction, technology of production and processing of poultry products. A great deal of interest was shown in lectures, devoted to the modern resource-saving technologies in poultry keeping, incubation of eggs and processing of eggs, meat and litter.
An exhibition “Poultry-2009” was also organized which included some of the most modern achievements in areas such as poultry feeding, poultry keeping and medical treatment Four days of intense work at the conference also included a vast entertainment programme that was arranged by the organizers and sponsors of the Conference. Lively conversations were observed among specialists from poultry farms, and the representatives of science and other companies working with the poultry market, which shows that such meetings are very important for the development of a healthy viable poultry industry.
Dr Oleg Trufanov, Secretary, and Dr Alexander Tereschenko, President, Ukrainian Branch
USA
The branch will again jointly sponsor an informational/get acquainted luncheon for all of the graduate students who attend the International Poultry Forum in Atlanta, Georgia on January 25-26, 2010. Other sponsors include the Poultry Science Association, the Southern Poultry Science Society, and the Southern Conference on Avian Diseases.
The branch will co-sponsor the annual WPSA lecture with the Canadian branch, and will hold its annual meeting during the Joint meeting of the Poultry, Animal and Dairy Science Societies that will be held in Denver, Colorado on July 11-15, 2010.
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WPSA sponsored and other poultry related symposia and conferences
A number of WPSA sponsored and other poultry meetings have been planned for 2009 and 2010 (see the WPSA Website Calendar for contact and registration information), including:
| 2010 | |
| 24-29 January 2010 | US Poultry & Egg Association's International Poultry Exposition and the International Poultry Scientific Forum (25-26 January), Atlanta, USA |
| 1-3 February 2010 | VIV India 2010, New Delhi, India |
| 1-3 February 2010 | Australian Poultry Science Symposium, Sydney, Australia Contact: Jo-Ann Geist |
| 3-5 March 2010 | Victam Asia, Bangkok, Thailand |
| 11-12 March 2010 | 4th Turkey Science and Production Conference, Macclesfield, United Kingdom Contact: 2010@turkeytimes.co.uk |
| 16-17 March 2010 | Annual Meeting of the German Branch, Düsseldorf, Germany Contact: Dr A. Förster |
| 13-14 April 2010 | WPSA UK Branch Spring Meeting, Belfast, Northern Ireland Contact: BSAS |
| 20-22 April 2010 | VIV Europe 2010, Utrecht, The Netherlands |
| 28-29 April 2010 | Annual Meeting of Italian Branch with the cooperation of the Italian branch of WVPA, Forli, Italy |
| 11-15 July 2010 | Joint meeting of the US Poultry Science, Dairy Science and Animal Science societies, Denver, Colorado, USA |
| 23-27 August 2010 | XIII European Poultry Conference, Tours, France Contact: scientific@epc2010.org |
| 21-23 September 2010 | VIV China 2010, Beijing, P.R. China |
| 12-13 October 2010 | New Zealand Poultry Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand Contact: Mr Alan Gibbins |
| 21-23 October 2010 | FIGAP/VIV América Latina 2010, Guadalajara, Mexico |
| 16-19 November 2010 | EuroTier 2010, Hanover, Germany |
| 2011 | |
| March 2011 | 9th Asia Pacific Poultry Conference, Taipei, Taiwan |
| June, 2011 | 6th International Symposium on Turkey ProductionBerlin, Germany |
| September 2011 | 30th Poultry Science Symposium, Glasgow, Scotland |
| 4-7 September 2011 | XX European Symposium on the Quality of Poultry Meat, Leipzig, Germany |
| 6-9 September 2011 | Latin-American Poultry Congress, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| 31 October - 4 November 2011 | 18th European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition, Cesme, Turkey |
We hope that many of you will consider participating in one or more of these poultry educational meetings. See the WPSA website Calendar for further details and registration information.
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