Feed Processing Industry in India: Silent but Robust

Ind. in. of Agri. Econ.Vol. 58, No. 3, July-Sept. 2003

Feed Processing Industry in India: Silent butRobust Propositions

N.P. Singh, R.P. Singh and Ranjit Kumar*

INTRODUCTION

The race between population and land-based agricultural production is stillpersisting in many parts of the world despite some modernisation and technologicalimprovements that had been brought about in raising the agricultural productivity.The belief that food from land resources will be able to support the ever increasingpopulation is relatively becoming paradoxical and "Malthusian pessimism" stillpervades in many parts of the world. In the context of rapid growing humanpopulation, increased protein malnutrition and increasing non-vegetarianism,nutritional food security assumes greater significance in the developing countries(Speedy, 2001). Nearly 30 years after attaining food self-sufficiency, malnutritioncontinues to be a major development challenge in India (Babu, 2000). The lack ofprotein in the dietary pattern has accentuated the already aggravated problem ofproviding nutrition. Due to lack of options and costly propositions for enhancing theproteinous source amongst vegetarian diets, there is a spurt in the animal proteinconsumption. This in turn has stimulated the growth in livestock, including poultryand fisheries sector in the recent past which has thereby increased the importance andphenomenal growth in the country's feed industry.

Feed manufacturing on a corrimercial and scientific basis started around 1965with the setting up of medium-sized feed plants in the northern and western India.Feed was produced mainly to cater to the needs of dairy cattle (Amble et al., 1995).The poultry sector was not developed at that time and was restricted to backyardproduction, with the desi (or native bird) kept mainly for the production of eggs. Thepoultry industry is now growing its importance in terms of phenomenal growth inproduction as well as their demand. Today, the Indian feed industry is worthapproximately Rs. 45 billion (Indian Poultry Traders Association, 2002).

India's strength in the feed processing sector include round the year supply ofraw material, trained and cheap manpower, largest livestock and poultry populationand enough potential for fish (Amble et al., 1995). Besides, the strategic geographiclocation of being close to the Middle-East and South-East Asian countries is alsoIndia's strength. Despite these strengths, however, certain weaknesses have continuedto plague the sector with the result that India has not been able to achieve its truepotential in the global trading arena.

* Division of Agricultural Economics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi - 110 012.

FEED PROCESSING INDUSTRY IN INDIA: SILENT BUT ROBUST PROPOSITIONS 555

Further, the feed industry is predominantly in the hands of the unorganised sectorand the domain of the organised sector is only to the tune of 8-10 per cent. In theabsence of relevant information on various indicators, planners and policy makersfind it difficult to frame any concrete policy for the sustainable growth of this feedindustry. Keeping this in view, the present study is an attempt to look at the variousfacets of feed industry, delineate the causative factors undermining the growth of feedprocessing and the challenges for the future in the wake of liberalised regime. It alsohighlights the need to adhere to quality standards, rationalising the tax structure andremoval of product-specific and sector-specific constraints. An attempt has also beenmade to confer the much needed leverage/competitive ability to this sector asextended to other processing sectors.

Growth Determinants of Feed Industry

As rising incomes and increasing human population continue to augment demandfor the 'income elastic' livestock products, there has been a rapid growth of livestockoutput in the last four decades and the demand is expected to get a boost substantiallyin the future. Assuming that the economy will grow at 5.5 per cent per annum, anestimate indicates that the demand for milk and eggs will grow at 2.8 and 3.3 percent, respectively between 1993 and 2020 (Prabhaharan, 2000). To meet this growingdemand, there is a dire need of increasing quality livestock feed production. There aremany research evidences showing that milk production could alone be increased by20 to 30 per cent by improved and balanced feeding. India's animal wealth is quitelarge in terms of its population of cattle, poultry, sheep and goats, camels, horses andpets. But due to lack of quality breeds with the majority of population along with lackof knowledge of scientific feeding practices, the productivity per animal head is lowas compared to that of even many developing countries. Quality ceed in adequatequantity would help in increasing the productivity thereby augmenting the profit tothe poor population (Dolberg, 1992).

Dairy and Dairy Cattle

Worldwide, India is number one in milk production with 78.0 million tonnes perannum, and the dairy industry is spread across, the whole country. India has one of thelargest populations of cattle and buffalo in the world. In a total of 288 million head,there are 10 million cross-bred cows, 15 million good milch Cows of local breeds and36 million buffaloes of good much breeds (Table 1). The remaining categories of thecattle population is of non-descript breed and a sizeable proportion consists ofbullocks. Cross-breeding (local cows crossed with exotic breed like jersey orHolstein-Friesian) was a natural solution to upgrading the milk yield in the absence ofhigh-value imported pure-bred animals. The buffalo breeds are unique to India, andproduce milk with a fat content of 7 to 8 per cent.

The dairy industry is expected to grow at the rate of 5 per cent, but growth will berestricted to individual small farmers. Growth in the dairy sector could very well be

556 INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

achieved by converting the large population of low yielders with that of high yielders,

who in turn will be requiring improved feed stuffs having higher feed conversion

ratio (FCR). This will augment the higher anticipated demand of compound feeds in

the near future.

Poultry and Poultry Products

Compared with the rest of the livestock sector, the poultry segment is relativelymore vibrant with 150 million layers, 650 million broilers and more than 40 billioneggs in respect to its production and feed requirements per se for various categories.It is more scientific, better organised and continuously progressing towardsmodernisation than that of dairy sector in India. Breeding and feeding managementhas improved through education, training, competition, expansion and survivalinstincts. India is the world's fifth largest egg producer, with a total production of 40billion eggs per year. The broiler industry is growing at the rate of 10 per cent perannum (Table 1).

TABLE I. SECTORAL INDICATORS OF CATTLE, POULTRY AND FISHERIES IN INDIA, 2000

(1) (2)

Dairy sector

Total livestock (millions) 470.86

Cross-bred cows (millions) 10.0

Improved cows (millions) 15.0

Improved buffaloes (millions) 36.0

Milk production (million tonnes) 78.0

Per capita consumption (gm/day) 240

Growth in dairy sector, 1964-2000 (per cent per annum) 5.0

Poultry sector

Commercial layers (millions) 150

Commercial broilers (millions) 650

Stock breeders (millions) 6.5

Egg production (billion) 40

Per capita availability (eggs/year) 40

Poultry meat production (million tonnes) 1.0

Per capita poultry meat availability (kg/year) 1.0

Poultry feed production (million tonnes) 9.0

Growth in layer industry, 1964-2000 (per cent per annum) 6.5

Growth in broiler industry, 1964-2000 (per cent per annum) 10.0

Fishery sector

Inland fish production (million tonnes) 2.82

Growth in inland fish production, 1964-2000 (per cent per annum) 3.44

Source: Dairy India Handbook, 2000, Poultryman (various issues), Indian Poultry Industrial Year Book, 1994,Fisheries Division, Department of Agriculture and Government of India, 2000.


Annual per capita consumption of eggs is 40 gm and that of broiler meat is 1000gm (Indian Poultryman, 2002). Although, these figures are low in comparison withthose for developed countries, the industry has a great potential to expand because 30per cent of the country's population (about 300 million people) is developingeconomically and the demand for poultry products is therefore likely to grow.

The poultry industry has witnessed several ups and downs in the last couple ofdecades as a result of unplanned growth and lack of government regulations.Currently, it is growing at the rate of 10 per cent in broilers and 6-7 per cent in layersand is going through a phase of integration in broilers which is likely to change theface of the industry. Although, the phenomenon is new, it is expected that there willbe very rapid changes towards integration as more farmers find it increasinglydifficult to run farms with marginal profits or negative margins. The poultry industryis very modern, with pure-line breeding, the latest vaccines and medicines, environ-mentally controlled poultry houses, up-to-date processing units, the latest manage-ment practices, chicken processing, exports of hatching eggs and excellent feedquality.

Piggery and Other Livestock

In India although, most states have banned cow slaughter and hence beef industryis non-existent unlike western nations. However, pork consumption is picking upespecially in the north-eastern states due to cheap source of animal protein. Withscientific rearing of the swine farms, the organised pork industry is likely to grow.The feed formulations for this segment are also on the rise, but no exact figures arestill available. The sheep and goat sector is mostly in the hands of nomadic tribesand no significant scientific husbandry, rearing and management practices areimplemented. There is lack of scientific management and feeding practices and thecompound feed consumption is very less or meagre and no specialised rations arebeing formulated.

Aquaculture

Fisheries have made a significant progress over the years. Fish production levelshave increased from 0.75 million tonnes of fish in 1950-51 to 5.65 million tonnes in1999-2000. The inland fish production levels have increased with a growth rate of5.27 per cent per annum during this period. The increased inland production levelscould be attributed to the improved fish meal and scientific aquaculture. Aquaculturefeed is manufactured with highly scientific methods and modern plants that use newtechnologies are highly efficient, India has tremendous export potential for theaquaculture products. With the increased thrust and avenues for the exports ofaquaculture products, the requirements of feed stuffs for the fisheries sector willeventually grow in the near future.


STATUS OF FEED INDUSTRY IN INDIA

Indian feed industry comprises both organised as well as unorganised segments.The organised segment of the feed industry comprises around 195 registeredmanufacturing units (CLFMA, 2002) producing 2.8 million tonnes of compoundfeed, which is merely 8 per cent of the total feed production in the country. However,the installed capacity of the organised sector is nearly 6.0 million tonnes and there isan idle capacity in the plants. Of the total, 8 manufacturing units have the lion's share(over 50 per cent) in the total feed produced by the organised sector. This clearlyindicates the necessity of larger plant size in order to accrue the benefits ofeconomies of scale, thereby producing feed at lower unit cost,.indicating thereby thatthe remaining units are operating at low level of economically unviable installedcapacity.

Due to easy access and economic considerations, the unorganised feed sector isplaying a major role in meeting the feed requirements of the livestock feed in generaland poultry in particular. However, due to unorganised nature of the feed industryand lack of information about the volume and domain, the proper planning anddevelopment of the feed industry appear to be a daunting task. The informationpresented over here therefore, confine only to the organised segment of the feedindustry.

The feed industry has modern computerised plants and the latest equipments foranalytical procedures and least cost ration formulation and it employs the latestmanufacturing technology (Jackson, 1991). In India, most of the research work onanimal feeds is practical and focuses on the use of by-products, the upgrading ofingredients and enhancing of productivity. The country has entered into a period ofliberalisation and this is bound to influence the livestock and poultry industry. Thereis no shortage of compound animal feeds anywhere in the country.

Over the years, the cattle feed production has remained static but there is a sharpincrease in the poultry feed production. The cattle feed production has increased fromjust 25,000 tonnes in 1965 to 1.50 million tonnes in 1995 and to 1.64 million tonnesin 2000, registering a growth of nearly 8 per cent. However, during the same period,the growth in the poultry feed production was to the tune of nearly 36 per cent. Itgrew from mere 14,000 tonnes to 1.26 million tonnes and to 1.94 million tonnes(Table 2). Even then, the potential of the animal feed production is quite high inIndia. The cattle feed and the poultry feed production potential stands at 60 and 9million tonnes respectively, which shows that the industry is currently utilising only2.6 per cent of cattle feed production and 21.1 per cent of poultry feed production.There exists a huge gap between potential and current level of production.

The organised sector of the compound feed industry is facing serious problemsresulting from huge idle capacity, to the extent of 50 per cent or more (Amble et al.,1995 and CLFMA, 2002). New capacities are being added by the global participantsof the feed business and by national as well as multinational integrators. The natureof animal and poultry feed is getting complex with the advancement in the researches.


There is a dire need to reorient the policies directed towards the Indian feedprocessing sector.

TABLE 2. PRODUCTION OF COMPOUND LIVESTOCK FEED BY ORGANISED FEED SECTOR IN INDIA

(million tonnes)

Year Cattle Poultry Others Total(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)1965 0.025 0.014 0.039

1975 026 0.17 0.44

1985 0.75 0.41 1.16

1995 1.50 1.26 0.05 2.81

1996 1.50 1.40 0.03 2.93

1997 1.41 1.34 0.02 2.77

1998 1.46 1.69 0.03 3.18

1999 1.60 1.90 0.03 3.53

2000 1.64 1.94 0.03 3.61

2001 1.65 1.94 0.04 3.63

Growth rate 8.00 36.0 Nil 20.0(1965-2001)

Source: Various CLFMA publications on production.

Feed and Its Constituents

Maize is one of the most important cereals used in animal feed apart fromsorghum and bajra. The annual production of maize is about 12.0 million tonnes, outof which nearly 45 per cent is used for animal feeds. Maize production has remainedalmost static in the past couple of years, while demand is ever increasing. The kharifmaize accounts for nearly 90 per cent of maize production while, remaining comesfrom the recently introduced rabi (winter) maize.

India is currently able to manage its domestic demand for feed and feedstuffs anddoes not depend on imports. Instead, the country exports large quantities of solventextracted meals, which are a major source of foreign exchange earnings (Sinate,2002). The import of maize used to be restricted but, since April 2000 imports havebeen approved under open general licence (OGL). There are, however, 15 per centduty and a grain inspection fee to be paid, so there is no price parity betweenimported and domestically produced maize. There is no subsidy or effectiveminimum support price (MSP is currently irrelevant in maize), due to which there is amarked fluctuation in the prices prevailing in the country. Due to depressedinternational prices, export is also not a profitable proposition in the recent years.

The feed sector in India uses various coarse grains, bran, millets and tubers forthe energy supplement in the feed stuffs. Although the availability of tubers and branproducts is in abundance, the availability of maize and other coarse cereals is veryacute (Table 3) and if concerted efforts were not directed towards enhancing


production, the feed sector will face shortage of raw materials. In case of proteinsources, although the availability of oil cakes/ meals is adequate but the fish meal, animportant source of protein supplement is in short supply. Against the requirement ofnearly 1.0 million tonnes of fish meals, there is production of only 0.2 million tonnesof fish meals. But, the availability of concentrates is adequate and fulfills therequirements. However, maize is the only single grain which provides an importantraw material for the feed sector.

Apart from the usage of maize in the animal and poultry feed, sorghum, bajra,rice bran, solvent extracted rice bran and oilseeds meals are also used in themanufacture of various variants of feeds for specific purposes.

TABLE 3. CONSTITUENTS OF INDIAN FEED INDUSTRY(million tonnes)

Feed constituents 1991 2000

Production Utilised as feed Production Utilised as feed

(1)(2) (3) (4) (5)

Energy sourcesMaize 10.5 2.85 12.07 6.25

Sorghum 21.0 2.10 23.0 2.3

Roots and tubers 5.3 2.65 6.0 3.0

Rice and wheat bran 8.20 10.0

Protein sources

Oil cakes/ meals (peanut, soybean,rape, sunflower, sesame, safflower)

Fish meal

12.8

0.15

6.40

0.15

16.0

0.2

8.0

0.2

Concentrates 20.55 24.7

Source: Poultry Solutions- Indian Feed Industry (2002) (http.//www.poultrysolutions.com).

Feed and Its Specifications

For cattle and poultry, nutritional standards have been formulated and set bydifferent agencies, namely Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) - poultry feeds specifi-cations and CLFMA standards for compound animal feeds and poultry feeds. Thespecifications of both the BIS and CLFMA are only the guidelines and their use asstandards is not compulsory. The animal feed business is competitive and feedmanufactures therefore endeavour to produce feed of the highest quality. Moreover,90 per cent of the feed industry in the unorganised sector is not having any bindingover these specifications. In India, the term 'compound feed' refers to the feed that isnutritionally balanced and has been manufactured using the facilities of an analyticallaboratory and under the supervision of the nutritionists. There are also a largenumber of small scale feed mixers who produce feed for local consumption. Suchfeed is termed as 'self mixed feed' or 'home mixed feed'. There are different typesof feed catering to various types/categories of livestock in the country. Thespecifications suited to the varied requirements are as follows.


Cattle feed: Cattle feeding practices are very traditional. Farmers choose their

own ingredients and prepare their own formulations, believing that by these means

they are able to pay more individual attention to their cattle. More than 50 per cent of

the country's total milk production comes from a very large number of low yielding

cows and buffaloes. A further 25 per cent of the milk production comes from

buffaloes and only the remaining 25 per cent of the total is produced by cross-bred

and improved cows (Amble et al., 1995). Industrially manufactured compound cattle

feed has proved its value for cross-bred cows and buffaloes but not yet for low-

yielding cattle because of their genetic limitations. Hence, still home mixed feed isvery frequently used for buffaloes and low-yielding cattle.

Poultly feed: Poultry feed is divided into layer and broiler feed. In the case of

layer feed, cost is the main constraint in using compound feed. An innovative, high

value compound feed can result in increased numbers of eggs, but the risks are too

high because of the bird's long life cycle. Compound feed has, however, made a

major contribution to broiler feeding. This is an example of excellent co-ordination

among instrument technology, formulations and use of feed additives and supple-

ments. Two types of poultry feed are prepared, one is readymade and in the form of

mesh and pellets. The second is in concentrated form for mixing with an energy

source. Concentrates are protein sources, balanced in amino acids and containing

vitamins, minerals and feed additives. They are mixed with energy sources such as

maize, sorghum or bajra to prepare poultry rations.Speciality feed meals: There are several types of speciality feed meals currently

in vogue, they are meat-meal, fish meal, bone meal and di-calcium phosphate of bone

origin are the common raw material available for animal and poultry feeding. Fish

meal and meat meal were popularly used in poultry 'feed alone, but the increased

production, improved availability and better awareness of soybean meal has led to

replacing the conventional feeds, i.e., fish meal and meat meal in most poultry

rations.

Concerns for Future Growth in Feed Industry

There are serious concerns about food safety and the environment associatedwith the growth of intensive, commercial livestock and poultry which need to beaddressed if the sector is to develop in a sustainable way, satisfying the moreexacting demands of the consumer and world markets. In the recent years, publicconcern about the safety of foods of animal origin has heightened due to theproblems that have arisen with the outbreak of several diseases like mad cow disease,etc. These problems have drawn_attention to the feeding practices within the industryand have prompted health professionals and the feed industry to .closely scrutinisefood quality and safety problems that can arise in foods of animal origin as a result offeeding systems.


Feed Borne Hazards and its Control

Given the direct links between feed and the safety of foods of animal origin, it isessential that feed production and manufacture be considered as an integral part ofthe food production chain. Feed production must therefore be subject to, in the sameway as food production, quality assurance including food safety systems based on theHazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. Applying HACCPensures that all potential safety hazards are thoroughly analysed, assessed andeffective systems for monitoring the critical control points are to be placed in orderfor adhering to the stringent parameters. The processors and handlers of animal feedmust further ensure that adequate documentation is maintained to demonstrate theiradherence to HACCP principles. Besides, these major issues, there are other issueswhich are equally pertinent for the sound and sustainable growth in the feed industryas well as for livestock sector. Some of them are as:

1. Standardisation and regulation of animal feed manufacturers: Although, BIShas given the guidelines for the feed standards and the CLFMA has alsodevised guidelines, but there is no compulsion to adhere to these guidelines.Moreover, due to the presence of unorganised sector in the feed industry,regulations are hard to implement. Further, the lack of flexibility in thesestandards is also proving to be the biggest bottleneck in implementing thestandards.

2. Classifications of animal feed supplements/additives for import: Theclassification of feed additives is a major hindrance to the feed industry. Theharmonised system of nomenclature is not in place for the feed supplementsand additives. Further, some of the ingredients are listed in the restrictedcategory of imports, which accentuate the problem.

3. Countervailing duty on amino acids: The vital ingredients for the feedindustry, like amino acids are used to improve the quality of final feed andmaking it conversion efficient. The import duty on amino acids to the levelof 10 per cent is compounded with the imposition of countervailing duty(CVD) and other duties making the effective duty to 39.61 per cent.However, the duty rates in the other countries like Hong Kong, Indonesia,Japan and Malaysia and even Pakistan is to the level of zero per cent. Therationalisation of duty vis-à-vis other counterparts will give a much neededleverage to domestic feed processing sector in the international market.

4. Local sales tax: Though feed industry is commodity oriented, it is a valueadded product. Feed industry is also subject to the value added tax and otherlocal taxes, which further makes the unviable proposition of producing thequality feed at a lower price.

5. Import and export: The first export consignment was undertaken in 1982 tothe near-east countries. With less adherence to the quality considerations, itis difficult to make forays into the other feed importing nations. However,


India still exports nearly 25,000 tonnes of general feed to the Near-Eastnations. Except some chemical derivatives, feed additives, amino acids andessentials for aquaculture, the country is not importing compound feed ingeneral.

Research and Development Promoting Feed Industry

The research efforts made in the past have paved the smoother way for green,white and blue revolutions in the country, which completely transformed the crop,dairy and fisheries sector, respectively. The increased crop output has helped inattaining the self-sufficiency on one hand and reducing the cost per unit of output, onthe other. This has also complimented the all-round growth and development inbovine and poultry sectors. The recent economic reforms and liberalisation areexpected to open up the market-led opportunities for the livestock sector. These twosegments of the livestock enterprises are highly responsive to the usage of compoundfeeds. The major constituent of the feed (nearly 45 per cent) comes from the corn/maize cereal. The research and development in the maize sector has led to thequantum jump in production from 4.0 million tonnes in 1960-61 to nearly 12.0million tonnes in 2001-2002 (Government of India, 2002). This phenomenal growthin the maize sector could be achieved due to massive public and private investment inmaize R & D. This led to the development of various cultivars suiting to the differentproduction environments, thereby reduced relative cost per unit of maize output(Singh et al., 2002). Further, increased maize production has given easy access andround the year supply of raw material (maize grain) to the feed industry.

Given the importance of feed constituents, the researches on various aspects ofanimal feeds and feeding practices are also being undertaken at various researchinstitutions. In the 1960s, researches were conducted on proximate composition,metabolisable energy values and deleterious factors. During the seventies, the mainthrust was on conducting researches on the use of by-products in animal feeds andchemical and biological values of ingredients. Subsequently, researches wereconducted on the energy-protein and energy-amino acid ratios and the vitamin andmineral requirements of animals. During the next phase of research, the main focuswas on by-pass fat and by-pass protein utilisation in ruminants and on the role ofvarious feed additives in enhancing milk, egg and broiler meat production. Researchand development work has also been conducted on 'least cost formulations and usageof synthetic amino acids.

Liberalisation and the Feed Industiy

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, India has a population of 1 billionpeople. Although, the annual growth rate has slowed down from 2- to 1.8 per cent,the base is so broad that the changes in population dynamics are not perceptible. Thepopulation may stabilise sometime between 2030 and 2040. The purchasing power ofthe middle class is growing (the middle class accounting for approximately 300


million people) and food habits are changing. The Indian economy is growing at the

rate of 6 to 8 per cent per annum. The livestock industry in India is the second largest

contributor to gross domestic product (GDP), after agriculture, and accounts for 9 per

cent of the total. As per one estimate, per capita milk consumption is likely to

increase from 240 to 450 gm per year, per capita eggs consumption from 40 to 100

per year, per capita broiler meat consumption from 1000 to 2000 gm per year.

The country is experiencing major upheavals in the wake of liberalisation. A

process of liberalisation was set in motion by the government and has been

implemented for the last ten years or so and liberalisation is in full swing. Increased

foreign direct investments, liberalised imports, reduced government expenditure and

public sector disinvestment, softening of government controls and restrictions are

some of the happenings that are going round the corner.

In view of the expected rise in per capita consumption of chicken meat, eggs and

milk, livestock production and productivity will grow. The dairy industry, which is

co-operative-based is growing with the increased capacities of milk processing units.

The population of cross-bred cattle and buffaloes is also growing. The poultry

industry is developing towards vertical integration and a few multinational companies

have already entered the Indian poultry business. Although, the live bird market

currently accounts for about 90 per cent of the total market, it is expected that the

consumption of dressed chicken will grow in the next five years, from the existing 10

per cent to 25 per cent or more. This would necessitate the establishment of very

hygienic and scientific processing units and cold chains. Branded chicken, chicken

cuts, etc., will be introduced and depending on the success and consistent quality,

consumer preference for dressed meat will grow. The relative prices of feed raw

materials especially maize have also stabilised for the last 3-4 years due to increased

productivity levels and depressing international prices. This would give a further

boost to the transitioning feed industry. Further, the Indian feed industry will

increasingly use biotechnology, more scientific formulations, improved animal

productivity due to increased scientific developments of feed manufacturing

technology.

CONCLUSIONS

In the wake of rapid growing human population, increased protein malnutrition

and increasing non-vegetarism, nutritional food security assumes greater significance

in the nation. Even after attaining food self-sufficiency, malnutrition continues to be a

major development challenge in India. The lack of protein in the dietary pattern has

driven the researchers and policy makers to look out for other options particularly

from animal origin. Due to increased thrust towards the development of livestock

and allied sectors, this has fuelled the growth in the country's feed industry. The teed

processing sector hitherto, a neglected one is poised for a big leap. The requirement

of quality feed is bound to grow and so is the organised sector but the increased


competition and presence of international players will drive the domestic industry topopularise the low cost feed rations for the poultry and livestock sectors. Moreover,the Indian feed industry can easily capitalise its strength of cheap manpower andround the year supply of raw material by competing in the international markets.However, still only 8-10 per cent of the feed requirement in the country comes fromthe organised sector and rest by the unorganised sector. With the increased thrusttowards cattle breeding programme and exotic pure line breeds of poultry, thecompound feed industry will find a conducive environment to grow in the years tocome.

REFERENCES

Amble, V.N.; V.V.R. Murthy, K.V. Sathe and B.B.P.S. Goel (1995), "Milk Production of Bovines inIndia and their Availability, Indian Journal of Veterinary Science, Vol. 35, pp. 221-238.

Babu, Suresh C. (2000), "Nutritional Security - Development Challenge", The Hindu Survey of IndianAgriculture, pp. 25-31.

Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers Association of India (CLFMA) (2002), Mumbai (variousissues).

Dolberg, F. (1992), The Role and Relevance of Feed Processing in Developing Countries, inProceedings of the FAO Expert Consultation on the Substitution of Imported Concentrate for FeedIndustry.

Government of India (2000), Indian Agriculture in Brief 27th Edition, Directorate of Economics andStatistics, Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi.

Government of India (2002), Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2002, Directorate of Economics andStatistics, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi.

http/www.poultrvsolutions.cornIndian Dairy Association (2000), Dairy India Handbook 2000, New Delhi.Indian Poultry Traders Association, Indian Poultryman, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (various issues).Jackson, M.G. (1991), "The Role of Feed Mills in Livestock Development", in M.G. Jackson, F.

Dolberg, C.M. Davis, M. Hague and M. Saadullah (Eds.) (1991), Maximum Livestock Productionfrom Mininium Land, Bangladesh Agricultural University, pp. 515-526.

Prabhaharan, R. (2000), "Livestock-Research Investment Crucial", The Hindu Survey of IndianAgriculture, pp. 137-141.

Sinate, David (2002), EXIAI Bank's Occasional Paper on Agro and Processed Foods: A Sector Study,Planning and Research Group, Export and Import Bank of India, Mumbai.

Singh, R.P., Ranjit Kumar and N.P. Singh (2002), "Transitioning Maize Seed Industry in India: SectoralDimensions", Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 57, No. 3, July-September, pp. 430-442.

Speedy, A.W. (2001), "The Global Livestock Revolution: Opportunities and Constraints for the Feedand Livestock Industries", in Proceedings of the 43rd National Symposium on Growth Prospectsunder Globalised Scenario vis-à-vis Livestock Production and Trade, Goa.

Documents

Feed Processing Industry in India: Silent but Robust