GRENADA

Geography
Grenada is an island nation in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is the second-smallest independent country in the Western Hemisphere (after Saint Kitts and Nevis). It is located north of Trinidad and Tobago, and south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The geographic coordinates are 12° 07' N, 61° 40' W. The total land area is 344 sq km. The island Grenada itself is the largest island in this island chain; smaller Grenadines are Carriacou, Petit Martinique, Rhonde Island, Caille Island, Diamond Island, Large Island, Saline Island and Frigate Island. Most of the population lives on Grenada itself, and major towns there include the capital St. George's, Grenville and Gouyave.
The largest settlement on the other islands is Hillsborough on Carriacou. In 2006, the population of Grenada was estimated at 92,000 with an estimated annual population growth rate of 0.336%.  The islands are of volcanic origin with extremely rich soil. Grenada's interior is very mountainous with Mount St. Catherine being the highest at 2,756 feet. The climate is tropical and is tempered by the northeast trade winds.

The Poultry Industry
The approximate number of broilers reared in Grenada in 2006 was 500,000. All the farmers could be regarded as small farmers, with only three rearing more than 5,000 birds at a time, ten rearing 1000-5000 birds, 15 rearing 500 – 1000 birds, 26 rearing 100-500 birds and 40 persons rearing less than 100 birds. Per capita poultry meat consumption in 2006 was approximately 60 kg and egg consumption was approximately 50 eggs per person per year.  Many households keep native fowls in the yard. These are sometimes slaughtered to provide meat for the family.
There are 28 registered broiler farmers and 86 registered egg farmers and a programme exists to register all farms by the end of 2007. It is estimated that the number of small back yard farmers who keep a few birds exceeds three thousand persons. Imported poultry meat accounts for 90% of the poultry meat consumed. This meat is imported as frozen chicken parts from the USA, Brazil and the UK. Local production accounts for only 10% of the poultry meat consumed. There are four main importers of poultry meat on the island
There were 56, 000 layers in production producing approximately 5,000,000 eggs in 2006. The largest layer farmer rears 200 birds while the largest broiler farmer rears 5000 broilers. 
There is one commercial hatchery on the island providing day old chicks from hatching eggs imported from the USA. However, most day old chicks for broiler farmers are imported from Barbados; occasionally day old birds are also imported from the USA. Layers and turkeys (as day-old chicks) are also imported from Barbados. Table eggs are produced by local layer farmers and Grenada can be considered self sufficient in table eggs.  Imports of table-eggs are allowed from the USA only if there is case of a shortage on the local market or a drop in local production. There are no organized or commercial processing plants in the country.  The farmers process broilers in small back yard facilities and then they are marketed in the community. Farm bio-security conditions are at levels 3 and 4 for most broiler farms. Some of the larger farms are at level 2. There is no specific vaccination programme in Grenada as all the chicks are vaccinated against Marek’s Disease, Newcastle and Infectious Bronchitis Disease (IBD/Gumboro) in the hatchery (Gale’s Hatchery, Barbados) prior to export.
In the last 5 years, there were no reported outbreaks of any disease in the poultry industry. The Official Veterinary Services provide regular technical services to the farmers. Veterinarians and technicians visit the farms on a weekly basis conducting surveillance and also provide technical information to the farmers. They also educate the farmers on bio-security measures with special emphasis on Avian Influenza (AI) prevention and preparedness. There are two veterinarians and nine animal health assistants and technicians in the Official Veterinary Services.

The Official Veterinary Services collaborate with the St Georges School of Veterinary Medicine (an off shore American veterinary school) in the area of veterinary laboratory diagnostics.  The laboratory at the University conducts ELISA for AI on field samples, while the field officers of the Veterinary Services, conduct the rapid diagnostic tests for AI on samples collected from the farms.
Poultry diseases of interest are coli septicemia, chronic respiratory disease and coccidiosis. A draft AI Emergency Plan has been prepared and the surveillance plan provides the basis for the field activities in relation to AI and other poultry diseases
The Grenada Poultry Association is an active association of farmers and has a close relationship with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Official Veterinary Services.  The CVO attends the meetings of the Association and interacts with the membership at regular intervals.