A research conducted by Fitch group firm BMI has predicted that India’s beef industry will continue to lead the global beef trade in volume despite the rise of nationalistic Hindu sentiments in the country, as reported by The Indian Express.
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“India specialises in the production of cheap and abundant buffalo meat and will continue to lead the global beef trade in volume, amidst increasing demand for inexpensive meat in Asia and the Middle East,” BMI Research said in the report.
The report noted that after more than a year since the implementation of a ban of cow slaughter and consumption in the Indian state of Maharashtra and following the growing opposition to cow meat nationally, the country’s beef sector remains one of the faster growing agribusiness markets, as per the news report.
“India’s beef sector will continue to be one of the country’s agribusiness bright spots despite the rise of nationalistic Hindu sentiment,” it stated.
“We forecast beef meat production to grow at a steady 4 per cent annually over 2016-2020, to reach 5.1 million tonnes at the end of that period,” BMI Research said in the paper.
Low local consumption of beef has also allowed the country to record very large exportable surpluses, as only 50 per cent of production is consumed locally, compared with 80 per cent in Brazil, according to the report.
As reported by The Indian Express, India, which overtook Brazil as the world’s largest beef exporter in 2014, will maintain a head start over its competitors in terms of exportable supply in the coming years as the country will record a surplus of 2.2 million tonnes on average over 2016-2020, compared with 2 million tonnes for Brazil and 1.5 million tonnes for Australia, the report said.
“We forecast beef meat production to grow at a steady 4 per cent annually over 2016-2020, to reach 5.1 million tonnes at the end of that period,” BMI Research said in the paper.
The report stated that beef production growth will be mainly driven by the domestic growth in the dairy sector, following the steady demand in the international market, BMI Research said.
The paper highlighted that a significant part of India’s beef trade is done through illegal channels, as live cattle is exported to Bangladesh (prohibited by the Indian government) and frozen meat reaches China via Vietnam (which is prohibited by China).
The news report quoted the research paper, which says, “India’s beef market is at a high risk of a change in trade regulation or a crackdown on illegal trade. In particular, China could seal the fate of India’s exports; exports to Chinese markets would boom should the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding over beef trade between the two countries be finally enacted after years of negotiations.”
Several India states mainly controlled by the BJP and large producers of beef meat, including Maharashtra and Haryana strengthened the legislation against cattle slaughter to include all types of cattle (male, female, at all age), reports The Indian Express.
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