After achieving a record high shipment last fiscal, India’s buffalo meat exports declined around 9% during the April-August period in the current fiscal compared to the corresponding period a year ago.
According to the latest data with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority (Apeda), exports of buffalo meat in the first five months of the current fiscal has been to the tune of R 9,466 crore against Rs 10,382 crore reported for the year ago period.
Trade sources told FE overall buffalo meat exports during 2015-16, is expected to fall below last fiscal’s record shipment of Rs 29,282 crore, which was up 10% over the year before. Buffalo meat exports constitutes about 24% of the country’s total agricultural and processed food products exports.
The key reasons for the decline in shipment of buffalo meat is the sharp fall in the Brazilian currency against US dollar in the last few months which have made India’s shipment of meat products uncompetitive against that of the Latin American country.
In 2014-15, buffalo meat became the largest item in the agri-export basket, surpassing basmati rice exports which was worth Rs 27, 598 crore in the year.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Egypt, Thailand and Saudi Arabia were the top five export destination for India’s buffalo meat in the last fiscal. However more than 45% of the value of shipment (Rs 13,200 crore) was to Vietnam.
Sources said most of the meat consignments to Vietnam, eventually go to China. China officially does not import buffalo meat from India. Commerce ministry official said concerted efforts to eliminate diseases such as rinderpest and foot-and- mouth disease among buffalo population have borne fruit, resulting in a sharp increase in exports of meat products from India in the last couple of years.
“Our animals are not fed on meat and bone meal and also not stall fed,” an official said adding that no protein supplements and growth hormones are used in animal feed.
Currently, there are around 10 mechanised abattoirs and processing plants set up by the private sector, mostly located in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, and these plants follow all sanitary and phyto-sanitary requirements of the World Organisation for Animal Health.
“Each export consignment is subjected to compulsory micro-bilogical test and inspection is done by officials from the animal husbandry department, Apeda, Food Safety and Standard Authority of India and state government veterinary departments,” the official said.