January 13, 2014

India's Andhra Pradesh faces beef shortage due to excessive exports

Triggered by the rise in exports to West Asia and Africa over the past few years, India's Andhra Pradesh's domestic market in buffalo meat is reeling under an acute shortage.

While the state has emerged as the top beef exporter to these countries, the rates in domestic markets have skyrocketed due to the resultant supply shortage and failure on the part of the authorities to regulate the industry.

During 2012-13, Andhra Pradesh (AP) figured as the third largest beef exporting state in the country, accounting for a substantial 35% of the total 11.06 lakh (1 lakh=100,000) tonnes of beef exported at a cost of INR17,400 crore (US$2.8 billion). Uttar Pradesh followed by Maharashtra emerged the top two exporters of the meat in the period.

Local butchers say there is going to be a further shortage of beef in the coming days as the export market grows at a steep 40% annually. In the past five years, beef prices have shot up from INR80 (US$1.30) a kilogramme to INR180 (US$2.93) a kilogramme currently.

Nearly 100,000 member Qureshi (butchers) community in the state have been worst hit as price of cattle in the domestic market shoot up. Thousands of them have been forced to shut shop. Of the nearly 7,000 beef shops in Greater Hyderabad, over 2,000 shops have been wiped out in the last few years. The fact that there is no rate control on the commodity is making matters worse, they add. "Going by the volume of beef we are exporting, we are sure that in the days to come we will have to import the meat," said a butcher and key member of the Qureshi community.

According to animal rights activities, about 5,000 buffaloes are slaughtered daily in the four integrated abattoirs in the state, officially. A staggering 80% of the meat from the animals slaughtered is being exported. These abattoirs privately owned (one belongs to the government but has been leased out) are exporting meat in a big way to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, among other countries.

"Almost all the abattoirs are illegally indulging in excess slaughtering to meet the demand. In some cases, rules and regulations are thrown to the wind. Proper waste disposal mechanism is non-existent," said Mahesh Agarwal, president, AP State Goshala Federation.

However, officials with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), an export promotion organisation under the ministry of commerce and industry, said two to three new slaughterhouses are set to come up in the next one year in the state. "India is number one beef exporter now. AP's share is around 35% in the total beef exports," said the official.