The Consequences of Planned Policies for Supporting Grand Parent Stocks of Arian Breed

Poultry meat production in the country has faced serious problems due to the policies of supporting the Arian breed and the industry have been coping with genetic and economic problems related to this breed.

According to our reporter, the current bottlenecks of the poultry meat supply in the country were discussed in a televised panel discussion on Wednesday evening of July 12 in Porseshgar show of Education Channel of the IRIB with the presence of Hamid Zolfaghari, expert on knowledge based economic development; Mehdi Masoudi, a media expert in the field of agriculture, and Seyed Mehdi Mirsalimi, a poultry disease specialist.

The host of the program pointed to the wrong policies of the Ministry of Agricultural for equal rationing of hatching between Arain and imported foreign breeds. Accordingly, the policy has resulted in creation of economic rent for the importers of Grand Parent Stocks who possess Arian breed Grand Parent Stocks, corruption in trading quotas, elimination of the Arian flocks under the pretext of disease and cheating in breeding by hatching foreign breeds under the name of Arian breeds.

In the continuation of the meeting, Masoudi rejected the ideas raised in the media and policy environment of the country on the necessity of cutting dependence on importation of foreign breeds due to sanctions by foreign companies, and added, "Importing foreign grand parent stocks have never been sanctioned for Iran, and those who claim such sanctions have never presented any document or evidence to prove their claim." If the monopoly on importation of Ross breed is lifted, there is internal capacity to import Ross 308 and Ross 708, he reiterated. Mirsalimi also acknowledged the absence of sanctions on the importation of grand parent stocks, including laying eggs and broilers, and stated: For example, there is no restriction on the importation of the laying grand parent stocks. Currently, about seven foreign breeds of laying eggs, even American breeds, are imported. If there is no limit to laying stocks, why should the broiler grand parent stocks be restricted?

The host of the show asked why the Kowsar Economic Organization, which owns the Arian production line, is simultaneously importing the Ross breed. Zolfaghari replied: "Without an integrated policy for production, whether Ross or Arian, the producer is confused. Currently the profits of Arian's breeding are lower than Ross because the steps that had to be taken to support Ariane have not been properly taken. In addition, existing scientific reports show that there is no meaningful difference between the Food Conversion Ratio (FCR) in Arian and Ross breeds. In response, Masoudi remarked that the results in the mentioned report were due to the use of Ross rooster in the Arian flocks.

Mirsalimi, a critic of the supporting policies, said at the end of the panel: " According to the evidence and reports of the industry and the National Veterinary Organization Arian breed has genetic flaws, lacks the ability to compete with similar breeds and cannot be revived. "Why should the government pay for Arian's line, whose production status is unknown, out of pocket of the poultry industry. To remove the problems of the country's chicken meat supply, the distribution of Arian stocks should be stopped and the importation of the grand parent stocks of foreign breeds must start immediately.