Suguna's contract farming turned 200 birds into a 40,000-farm poultry network

In the 1980s Indian poultry was an unorganised commodity business: small farmers reared birds but faced unpredictable prices, disease losses and a chain of intermediaries, so they could not invest in scale. Brothers B. Soundararajan and G.B. Sundararajan started with 200 birds in Udumalpet, Tamil Nadu, selling poultry inputs before seeing the deeper problem.

Their answer was contract farming. Suguna supplied chicks, feed, veterinary care and technical guidance, and contracted to buy back the grown birds at agreed prices, so the farmer's job became rearing birds well while Suguna absorbed market and price risk. Suguna also built its own feed mills, hatcheries and vaccine production units to control quality and cost.

The model turned a commodity market into a product market and a neighbourhood market into a national one. By 2009 turnover reached Rs 30,180 million across 11 states, and the company became a standard case study in inclusive business: risk mitigation for farmers plus integrated services that cut intermediation and transaction costs.

By 2021–2023 the model had grown to roughly ₹9,000 crore in revenue, 40,000 contract farmers across 19 states and about 15% of India's poultry market, with expansion into Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Africa. Contract farmers reportedly earn ₹1–3 lakh a year — a stable income where price risk used to be theirs.

Take market risk off the farmer; they supply, Suguna sells

Guaranteed buyback removed the risk smallholders could not bear, so they invested in scale

Integrated inputs and services cut intermediaries and transaction costs for both sides

Suguna's own feed, hatchery and vaccine units kept quality and cost under control

Aligned incentives: farmers earn reliably while Suguna secures supply and consistency

Own the risk your supplier fears most: guaranteeing buyback turned price-takers into reliable suppliers and scaled the network from one town to a national industry.

By 2009 Suguna's turnover reached Rs 30,180 million with operations in 11 states; a decade later the network had grown to roughly ₹9,000 crore, 40,000 contract farmers in 19 states and about 15% of India's poultry market. ADB's COVID-era liquidity support helped sustain 40,000 contract farmers through the pandemic. Suguna expanded beyond India to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Africa, and its contract-farming structure became a documented reference for inclusive, for-profit value chains.