Kowsar Intelligent Research Center of Tehran University's Endeavor for Self-Sufficiency in Producing Iranian Parent Stock Chickens

The Kowsar Research Center for Intelligent Science and Technologies at the University of Tehran, under the supervision of Dr. Zahra Emam-Jomeh, is implementing national and interdisciplinary projects with the aim of smartening the poultry industry and achieving a breed of Iranian parent stock chickens. This center, which emerged from a research institute in the field of designing intelligent systems, faces serious challenges on the path to self-sufficiency and reducing dependence on the import of parent stock chickens.

The Kowsar Intelligent Research Center of the University of Tehran began its activities in the field of smartening the poultry industry by order of the Kowsar Economic Organization and gradually directed its research towards breed improvement and the production of Iranian parent stock chickens. Dr. Zahra Emam-Jomeh, a faculty member of the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Tehran and the manager of projects at this center, in an interview with reporters, elaborated on the situation of the country's poultry industry.

Referring to the importance of the poultry industry as the cheapest source of animal protein and a pillar of food security, she stated: "The poultry industry in Iran is heavily dependent on the import of parent stock chickens, and a limited number of companies have permits to import these breeds. This is while numerous research projects for producing Iranian parent stock chickens have been started but were abandoned halfway due to economic and support issues."

Emam-Jomeh, noting that the feed conversion ratio in domestically produced breeds has not been satisfactory so far, said: "Unfortunately, the domestically produced breeds have not been able to compete economically with imported samples. This has caused the industry to remain dependent on imports."

She also pointed to managerial and scientific challenges in poultry farms and added: "Many poultry farms are run by non-specialist labor, which directly impacts the quality and final cost of chicken."

This University of Tehran researcher announced the efforts of the Kowsar Research Center to train specialists and smarten poultry farms and emphasized: "By developing intelligent systems and using artificial intelligence, the conversion ratio and quality of chicken can be improved, and the price of chicken meat can be reduced by 30 to 40 percent."

Dr. Emam-Jomeh further pointed to the resistance of some companies importing parent stock chickens against domestic self-sufficiency and said: "These companies have been profiting from imports for years and are opposed to domestic production. However, we continue our scientific work because the country's food security depends on these projects."

She also criticized challenges related to information dissemination and cooperation from some production centers and stated: "In some cases, we faced the disconnection of monitoring cameras and a lack of cooperation from some centers, which forced the research institute to set up its own dedicated poultry farm."

Emam-Jomeh finally called for continuous support for research in this field and emphasized: "Genetic projects require time and long-term support. We expect officials, relying on the capacity of domestic specialists, to support research teams so that if imports face challenges one day, the country will not experience a food crisis."