Productivity of livestock sector in India on EuroTier radar
Day one of EuroTier 2016 saw farming experts and politicians from India and Germany come together to discuss the steps that are required to help India’s livestock sector reach its full potential.
The conference was organized by the German Agribusiness Alliance, EuroTier organizer, DLG, and the German Cattle Breeders Federation; the event was aimed at finding ways to boost productivity of the animal husbandry in India, as well as determining how product quality can be enhanced.
Officials from the Indian Ministry of Agriculture provided information on current developments in India, and reported on schemes in play to support further growth of the industry there.
India is both the largest milk producer and consumer in the world, and accounts for nearly one-fifth of global milk production – which continues to grow at an annual rate of 4%, reported the DLG.
The organizers noted data from India’s National Dairy Development Board, which forecast milk consumption of up to 155m tons in 2016-2017 with projections of 200m tons by 2021-2022, which are based on general economic growth in the country, and associated increases in income.
Meat consumption in India is also rising quickly, by about 14% annually, continued the DLG.
It said the Indian poultry industry has an enormous potential to serve this increasing demand, as well as supplying international markets. The DLG cited data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which showed that India produced 3,900 tons of broiler meat in 2015.
According to a report from India’s Ministry of Commerce, India exported poultry meat worth almost USD$12m last year.
A growing demand for pork is also being reported in some regions of the country, said the EuroTier team.