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India needs to step up pork meat production to meet growing demand: Officia
Mar 04, 2022

Changing trends in meat consumption across the globe, especially pork platters, is fast catching up in South Asian nations, including India.

However, supply has failed to meet the growing consumption of pork meat in India, which accounts for a small percentage of the meat demand in the country.

Across the world, pork is among the highest consumed meats, while its production in India is only 1.7 per cent of the total production of 4.1 million tonnes, said T.P. Sethumadhavan, former Director of the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Science University (KVASU), quoting statistics of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

Pork meat consumption was 2.95 lakh tonnes in 2021. Of the total production, the north-eastern states consume the meat more than other states, he told BusinessLine, adding that the NE states are now procuring piglets and pigs from the North Central and southern states.

The scarcity of piglets, coupled with lower productivity and rising demand, make the demand-supply situation more complex. The need of the hour, he said, is to strengthen pig production in the country in line with domestic demand, considering the nutritional, food security and livelihood issues.

According to him, there is a need to take up pig production as a priority area in livestock production. Government projects such as the National Livestock Mission, cold chain projects of the Ministry of Food Processing and Industries and Animal Husbandry Infrastructure development projects can pave the way for strengthening pig production programmes.

Sethumadhavan, who also works as a World Bank consultant, said pig production can create a lot of job opportunities and support the livelihood issues of millions of families. The thrust on pig production, including research, extension, genetics and nutrition will contribute to more than five per cent of agriculture GDP in the coming five years.

However, he said the sector requires skill development programmes to improve integrated value chain systems. Entrepreneurs should be given opportunities to invest in the sector so as to strengthen the production, consumption, value addition and marketing of pork products, including ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook products.

Echoing a similar view, A.S.Bijulal, Managing Director, the State-owned Meat Products of India Ltd, said the demand for pork meat is higher than supply. It would be difficult to get an exact production figure as most slaughterhouses are in the unorganised sector. But for MPI, he said 25 per cent of its yearly meat production of 700 tonnes constitutes pork.

Prior to Covid, there was good pork farming, especially in the hilly regions of Kerala. However, the majority of these were closed down in the absence of the required feed, mainly food waste, due to the closing down of hotels, catering units, and hostels during the lockdown.

thehindubusinessline

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