Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Nov 23, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Nov 23, 2004 |
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Corporate
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Outlook Agri-Biz & Commodities - Animals & Livestock MPI to invest Rs 10 cr to double capacity G.K. Nair
Meat pieces being weighed before processing and packaging at MPI. - K.K. Mustafah
Kochi , Nov. 22 MEAT Products India Ltd (MPI) at Edayar near Koothattukulam is to double its capacity next year apart from taking steps to procure enough unproductive livestock to meet its meat requirement. With an investment of Rs 10 crore, adequate infrastructure facilities for raising the capacity from 450 tonnes to 900 tonnes a year would be created by early next year, a senior company source told Business Line. Separate slaughterhouses for different species would come up in the factory premises. He said that meat production in the State is estimated at 1.73 lakh tonnes a year and over 30 per cent of the animals for meat are brought from outside Kerala. In fact, around 80 per cent of slaughtering takes place illegally in unhygienic conditions and as a result environmental pollution is rampant. The State-owned company has decided to set up modern slaughterhouses on the borders and the first of its kind would come up in Palakkad. Slaughtering would be done under the supervision of qualified veterinary doctors who would conduct a pre-mortem also. Units for by-products would also be set up besides making provisions for effective waste disposal. This would arrest the entry of live animals into the State in large numbers and instead carcasses could be transported from the borders to the markets. The private traders could also get their animals slaughtered here by paying a fixed fee. For goats such a house would be set up in Thrissur, while for chicken it would be at Aroor in Alapuzha district. At present, the major share of the meat processed and sold by the company is of pig and it has a requirement of 5,000 pigs a year. Chicks are available locally as also the goats. However for beef, the company has to depend mainly on Tamil Nadu due to severe shortage in Kerala. The animal trade is monopolised and controlled by three people in Tamil Nadu and hence they determine the price for the live animal. They buy the animals from farmers at throwaway prices and then sell and transport them to other States at Rs 22 per kg to Rs 26 a kg. To procure unproductive livestock from the farmers, the company is introducing a scheme on the lines of milk producers' cooperatives. The farmer/owner of the animals could report to the cooperative society about the availability of the unproductive cow or buffalo so that the company could directly contact them and procure them at market price, the official said. The per capita consumption of meat in the State is on the increase and hence the company has tremendous potential in the future both in domestic as well as overseas markets. Because of the mad cow disease and avian influenza in chicken abroad, there is good demand for Indian meat and chicken from foreign markets, he pointed out. At present, the MPI products are mainly served in star hotels in the state, as these items such as pork chops, frank furter, hot dog, bacon rashers, masala sausages, beef keema, chicken salami are not popular among the ordinary consumers, he said. Besides, its products are available with all leading supermarkets and cold storages throughout Kerala and other states. He said that the unit, which was set up in 1968 with Danish government assistance as Bacon factory was converted in to a meat products factory by the state government in 1976. The company is holding MFPO Licence No. 1 under category A and the products are manufactured under strict veterinary supervision from selected animals free from zoonotic disease. With the expansion, the company will be able to raise its annual turnover from Rs 4.5 crore to Rs 9 crore from next fiscal. It is in the process of exporting its processed products to overseas markets. The Indian Armed Forces are also expected to become a major buyer for the company's products. Goat meat is mainly supplied to the defence forces, he said. In order to ensure the quality of raw material, MPI has its own livestock farms for pigs, poultry and rabbits. It also assures good market to farmers at remunerative prices for their farm products such as pigs, rabbits, quails, poultry etc. Besides, it has several incentive and subsidy schemes to farmers.
More Stories on : Outlook | Animals & Livestock | Kerala
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