VIV/ILDEX India 2012, held recently in Bangalore, proved to be a hive of activity for the regions fastest growing poultry and livestock industry.
Over 130 exhibitors from 18 countries showcased their products and innovations at the expo organized by VNU Exhibitions Europe and NCC Exhibition Organizer (NEO) in association with Indian partner Inter Ads. Key professionals and decision makers made their way to the IT capital of India to see what the industry had to offer.
The event underlined the value of knowledge sharing to trigger economic growth. Extensive conference programmes and walk-in sessions with speakers from various parts of the globe (from major industry players like Marel Stork, Pfizer, Fancom, et al) threw light on the latest innovations, challenges and solutions for the industry.
Feedtech-Croptech
This year, for the first time, the feed manufacturing industry was put in the spotlight with the special theme Feedtech-Croptech. The exhibitors of this dedicated event focused on the primary processing phases of crops and geared towards those working in milling, processing, storage and handling of raw materials for the feed, food and fuel sectors.
The quality standards of Indian feeds are high and up to international levels. Raw materials for feed are adequately available in India. The feed industry has modern plants and the latest equipment for analytical procedures and least-cost ration formulation, and it employs the latest manufacturing technology. In India, most research work on animal feeds is practical and focuses on the use of by-products, the upgrading of ingredients and the enhancing of productivity.
Opportunities in India
Economic and population growths in Asia, India in particular, are driving poultry and livestock production. Poultry has a crucial place in India as the eggs and chicken meat are important and rich sources of protein, vitamins and minerals. Poultry provides rich organic manure and is a vital source of income and employment to millions of farmers and other persons engaged in allied activities in the poultry industry. Chicken is the most widely accepted meat in India. Even though consumption of food grains has decreased during the recent past, animal protein sources like milk, meat and eggs shows a positive trend. This emphasizes the need for increasing domestic production to meet the ever-increasing need for animal protein sources.
In the last two to three decades, poultry has made tremendous strides particularly in the private sector, with the result that India is now self-sufficient with regard to requirements of high quality breeding stocks, modern poultry equipment, availability of medicines and vaccines and technically qualified skilled manpower.
India is the world’s fourth largest producer of eggs and fifth largest poultry producer. Based on various industry sources and Robobank research, the poultry industry is estimated at around US$3.1bn, while the layer market at US$2.5bn. In India, both intensive and traditional systems of poultry farming are followed, but intensive system is rapidly increasing due to increasing land and other input costs. It is estimated that about 60 per cent of poultry meat and 56 per cent of eggs are currently being produced in the intensive system.
As India’s middle class is thriving, demand for ready-to-eat meat is growing. However, it’s not just the domestic demands that are growing. Animal product exports are also becoming an important part of the Indian economy. Consequently, the importance of delivering fresh and safe meat products with an extended shelf life is increasing. Meat safety can only be guaranteed if every step in the meat production chain is carefully monitored and controlled. To stay current with these developments, today’s meat business is about improving profitability, efficiency, health, transparency and quality.
