Beyond hens: Emu Farming

Native to Australia, these soft-feathered and flightless birds are mostly farmed for their meat, oil and leather. Emu meat is considered to be low on fat and cholesterol. Its fat is used to produce oil for cosmetics, dietary supplements and therapeutic products. The feathers and eggs of emus are used for arts and crafts purposes and emu leather is used in combination with other leathers to make items like wallets and shoes.

"Emu" sting facts

Average Life Span: 10-20 years
Sexual Maturity: 2 to 3 years
Breeding Years: 25+ years
Mating Season: November to March
Eggs per Year: 10-60
Incubation Period: 48 to 52 days
Emu Products: Eggs, meat, oil, feathers, leather

 

Whether being farmed in Australia, the United States, China or India, emus can survive in a variety of climates. One of the biggest advantages of farming this bird is its excellent feed conversion ratio. An emu can reach up to 2 meters in height and around 65 kg in weight, and yet its annual feed intake does not exceed more than 600 kg. Besides this, emus have a hatchability rate of more than 80% and a chick mortality rate of less than 10%. They are even immune to bird flu!

Another advantage is the fact that it requires very minimal investment in facilities and land area. Research shows that around 68% of the investment has to be made in purchase of breeding stock. The rest of the investments go on the farm and hatchery. Feeding cost per breeding pair per annum was estimated to be Rs. 3,600.

According to the Emu Farmers Association, there are currently around 900 emu farms across fourteen states in the country, with a majority of them in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Most of the income is generated through the eggs, which can fetch you somewhere around Rs 600 to 1000 per egg in the market. Since a pair of chicks can cost as much as Rs 15,000, farmers are hesitant to sell emu meat, even though it can be sold for anywhere between Rs 300-750 per kg.

Tourism:Touring The World

Tourism is a booming industry in India. With the number of domestic and international tourists rising every year, this is one hot sector entrepreneurs must focus on. India with its diverse culture and rich heritage has a lot to offer to foreign tourists. Beaches, hill stations, heritage sites, wildlife and rural life, India has everything tourists are looking for.

But this sector is not well organised. India lacks trained professionals in the tourism and hospitality sectors. Any business in this sector will thrive in the long run as the demand contuse to grow every year.

Tourism in India is the largest service industry, with a contribution of 6.23% to the national GDP and 8.78% of the total employment in India. India witnesses more than 5 million annual foreign tourist arrivals and 562 million domestic tourism visits. The tourism industry in India generated about US$100 billion in 2008 and that is expected to increase to US$275.5 billion by 2018 at a 9.4% annual growth rate. In the year 2009, 5.11 million foreign tourists visited India.

India's 5,000 years of history, its length, breadth and the variety of geographic features make its tourism basket large and varied. It presents heritage and cultural tourism along with medical, business and sports tourism. India has a growing medical tourism sector. The 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi are expected to significantly boost tourism in India.

Having said all this you must now be aware and up for entering the tourism sector. One can step into this industry by many ways. This may be through the path of travel agencies,  which may be called biggest part of the tourism sector. Arranging all the stay of the tourists with their sight seeing and food is the basic thing which can be done on the domestic front and on the international front you can also go in for the passport and visas services. But this type of business needs contacts so we would recommend you to start at a local level and slowly spread your contacts as well as the expertise

The another way is to jump into the hospitality sector. Opening up a hotel at  premium tourist destination which offers great service will not go out of notice. Once up and running you can make your own packages and offer it to your customers. This is a segment which needs capital which may be small or large. A large capital would make it a premium hotel and would source in some good amount of money. But you can also start off with a small capital as there are not so many rich people in this world.

Hope this idea triggers your business quotient but if not stay tuned for more business ideas. In the meanwhile go to our partner sites and see what they have to say. You can find their links to your left or at the top and bottom.