National Action Plan for Egg: Strong on Intent, Short on Strategy
Tarun Shridhar, Former Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Govt. of India
Whenever confronted with the emerging challenge of feeding more than 9 billion people on this earth by the year 2050, the global policy makers look up to an increased availability of animal protein through the ever improving animal production systems. India is dubiously placed with the projection of a 34% increase in population during this period; in any case, we are soon going to become the most populous nation in the world. A large section of this population being poor poses a basic and Herculean challenge of not only feeding the people but affording them nutrition which converts the population into a productive workforce. While the population expands, land does not; moreover agriculture is characterised by years of less than impressive growth. Therefore, the answer to the ever increasing demand for food and nutrition is the activities of dairy, poultry, fisheries and the whole host of livestock rearing. Nutritional security apart, livestock has also emerged as a viable vocation for economic security and prosperity. Within this multidimensional sector, growth of poultry in general, and egg in particular, has consistently maintained optimistic trends. Egg assumes much greater significance for us on account of its easier acceptability in sections of society where meat products are still considered a taboo. The stated objectives of the National Strategy and Action Plan for Eggs are: a) to enable doubling of farmers’ income; b) to fulfill the objective of protein enriched food requirement of the growing population of the country and prevent malnutrition in one of the highest malnourished children population in the world (sic.); c) to achieve 2% of world egg market trade through exports. So the objectives are multi-pronged; food & nutrition, as also business.
The National Action Plan for Egg has conceived projections and targets for the year 2022-23 while using the actual data and achievements of 2015-16 as the Baseline Year. 136 billion eggs is the production target for 2022-23 as against 83 billion in the baseline year; we have already achieved 103.32 billion in the year gone by. Considering an annual growth rate of over 6% across the years, and more than 8.50% during the last two reference periods, the target of 136 billion is not only realistic and eminently doable but perhaps a bit modest too. The poultry population too shall grow to the projected numbers of 1290.45 million from the current i.e 851.81 million as per the 20th Livestock Census 2020. The all India average yield of eggs across all varieties is expected to rise to 250; at present it stands at 206 and 108 for improved and desi varieties respectively. This translates to an annual per capita availability of 93 eggs. From the present 79.
The plan recognises that to achieve this level of production, not only is it essential to sustain the present level of growth but also to ensure proportional expansion in ancillary industries and support services. According to the baseline data (2015-16) the total feed consumption, at an annualised 45 kilograms in a laying cycle, was 11 million metric tonnes whereas after factoring in a 7% improvement in the Food Conversion Ratio (FCR) and arriving at a requirement of 42 kilograms per laying cycle, the annual feed availability by 2022-23 would have to be in excess of 15 million metric tonnes. This includes 5.25 mmt maize and 2.25 mmt soya. Similarly, an annual procurement of more than 4400 vaccine dosages would have to be ensured as against 3000 in the base year. The biggest challenge of all is going to be the availability of skilled manpower for the scientific management of this highly organised sector. This already is one of the serious impediments to the growth of poultry. The plan envisages a requirement of an extra four lakh skilled hands taking the total to more than 5.5 lakh persons. The sources of these figures do not find a mention in the plan document, and prima facie some of these figures require validation.
Rising incomes, leading to expanding middle class may have been important factors in the growth of the poultry sector in India, emergence of vertically integrated producers that have reduced production and marketing costs thus making poultry products affordable too have been significant factors. Effective disease surveillance and management have positively impacted the fate of poultry. Concurrently, the country’s large, dispersed, unorganised backyard poultry sector is a potent tool for subsidiary income generation for many landless and marginal farmers, and a source of cheap but healthy nutrition for the rural poor.
What the plan now requires is to move towards creation of infrastructure for warehousing, processing and value addition. After all, one cannot capture 2% of the global trade through wet and raw products. The economies of egg production are highly dependent upon the behaviour of maize and soya prices which even in normal times demonstrate erratic fluctuations. Unfortunately, today the relevant department in the government has no voice in influencing either the production or marketing of these essential feed ingredients. Our reluctance, nay, stiff opposition, to GM crops also denies us cheap feed thus making our poultry products uncompetitive in international markets. Working on these issues, along with developing alternative breeds which rely upon low cost inputs for backyard poultry could create our own unique model which is a blend of vertical integration across production and supply chains on the one hand, and organically reared birds and eggs through family poultry systems on the other. The model of integration, however, must function on sound and ethical market principles of free and open access to technology, inputs and markets rather than becoming a source of captivity of the small producer. The government would
do well to engage with the stakeholders and conduct an intensive review of the plan. The why, what and when of the National Plan for Egg are clearly spelt out; what is missing is How? And this is what should be a crucial difference between
an academic exercise and government strategy paper. It has been less than two weeks since we celebrated World Egg Day on 9th October. Let the celebrations move beyond the ritual as our inherent cultural limitation to aggressively promote poultry meat opens an opportunity to pitch for egg as a food which is most affordable, most nutritious, and what more vegetarian. An undoubted winner both for the consumer and the farmer.