Feed & Additive Magazine Issue 2 March 2021

MARKET REPORT FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE March 2021 81 T he most important segment of the livestock industry is the poultry sector. An extremely complicated industry in itself, the poultry sector con- sists of many different levels of production, including feed factories, hatcheries, breeding farms, and pro- cessing plants. Likewise, there are sub-units such as chicken, duck, turkey, and goose in terms of species in the sector. The sub-classes for production are di- vided into meat and egg production. Production for feathers can also be added to this. Among poultry species, chicken is the main breeding area around the world and, according to estimates, represents more than 90 percent of the poultry sector. Other species include duck in Asia, turkey in North America, guineafowl in Africa, and geese are also known as prominent species after chicken breeding. The poultry sector, which has an extremely import- ant place in terms of food safety and nutrition, is the fastest growing agricultural sub-sector, especially in developing countries. It is thought that factors such as population growth, income level growth, and ur- banization will contribute to the growth of the sec- tor in the future. Although small farms and family businesses in the sector have been instrumental in the growth of the market, it seems that the main growth will be due to large-scale operations. Although these developments contribute to the growth momentum of the market, some problems that have a negative impact also stand out as obsta- cles to the sector. One of these problems is the role of poultry in infectious diseases. Besides, the risks they pose to human health due to antimicrobial resistance are also seen as a significant problem. In recent years, intensive studies have been carried out on antibiot- ic-free production options, especially due to the an- timicrobial resistance problem, and countries are try- ing to create a driving force on producers in terms of antibiotic-free production with various regulations. PRESENCE OF POULTRY According to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the total poul- try presence in the world (chicken, duck, goose, guineafowl, and turkey) is about 27.9 billion heads in 2019. The largest share of this presence belongs Number of Chickens in the World (1000 Head) Source: FAOSTAT Area Asia America Africa Europe Oceania World Total 2018 15.454.348 5.799.513 1.996.865 2.025.942 137.766 25.414.434 2019 15.839.266 5.862.543 2.042.603 2.020.248 150.658 25.915.318