Meat industry in India is highly unorganized and most of the production takes place in local slaughterhouses which are old and unhygienic. They often lack basic facilities. Emerging global market opportunities for the Indian meat industry have significantly induced private investment in meat processing through state-of-the-art technology of integrated plants. These plants successfully add value not only by improving the quality of meat but also by utilizing each and every part of the carcass efficiently which otherwise is being wasted at local slaughterhouses. But, the contribution of these organized meat processing units is meager and their products are largely meant for exports. Though India has a huge livestock population, meat production in the country is considered as an adjunct and socially unacceptable activity for the majority of the population. Vertical interactions between different Supply Chain components viz., from input supply, animal rearing, slaughtering & processing and sales & distribution of final meat and meat products to consumers, are highly missing in Indian meat industry. In practice, most of these components act independently. This paper analyzes the missing links between various components and potential opportunities of designing vertical coordination for the Indian meat industry.
The
structure of the Indian meat industry is highly unorganized and most of the production
takes place at municipal slaughterhouses which basically caters to local consumers'
need. Emerging global market opportunities for the Indian meat industry have significantly
induced private investment in meat processing. These plants successfully add value
not only by improving the quality of meat but also by utilizing each and every
part of the carcass efficiently which otherwise is being wasted at local slaughterhouses.
India has the potential to produce various types of meat like cattle and buffalo,
sheep and goat, poultry and pork due to its varied livestock population. Cattle
and buffalo which accounts for the major livestock share are not basically reared
for meat production; rather, meat production from these species is considered
socially unacceptable by a majority of the population. The slaughter rate for
these bovine animals is quite low and only 6% of cattle and 10% of buffaloes are
used for meat production. Use of animals for meat production in case of other
species are comparatively more acceptable in the country and are substantially
used for slaughtering (Ali, Ahmad and Birthal, 2004).
Considering
the ground realities about the size and the nature of meat industry operations
on one hand, and the vast potential of value addition through processing on the
other, there is a need for building up strong and stable backward linkage of the
industry with the farmers, which is missing at the moment. The supply chain for
meat industry is quite long and unorganized, causing losses to both farmers and
processing industries. The farmers do not get full remuneration for their animals
due to the multiplicity of middlemen, lack of demand and supply information, regulations
in livestock markets, non-availability of adequate infrastructural facilities
and unorganized meat processing industries. In most of the cases, unproductive
bovine animals which cannot be used for milk production are being used for slaughtering. |
