Poultry industry demands permission to import feed during lean period

PUNE: Poultry industry has demanded permission to import feed ingredients during lean period to tide over the high prices of feed, which, coupled with decline in consumption on account of two back-to-back droughts in the country, have slowed down the industry's growth.

Dinesh Bhosale, vice president (west), Poultry Federation of India said, "From last two years, supply of feed ingredients like soyabean and maize has been less, their prices are high, there is speculation. Adulteration of feed is also a big challenge in front of the poultry industry."

"Due to high prices of maize and soya meal, the poultry industry has been making losses for the past two years," said commodity analyst and poultry expert Dipak Chavan. Two big poultry feed companies have become bankrupt in the past two years, while many have shrunk in size.

The imported soyameal is currently cheaper by Rs 3000/tonne including duties as compared to the domestic soyameal. However, due to less availability of non-GMO soyameal, there are very few sources available to Indian buyers in the international markets. "We need to allow imports during the lean period from April to September when there is no local harvest," said Bhosale.

Along with high feed prices, poultry industry could not see its expected growth during last two years as rural consumption declined due to two back-to-back droughts in the country.