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Meat is an important livestock product, which in its widest sense includes all those parts of the animals that are used as a food by man.
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Though meat has a very high biological value, its production and processing has always been the subject of social prejudice.
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This factor has adversely affected the growth of meat industry.
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In many cases, social resistance and ignorance have resulted in inordinate delay and determent of abattoir modernization schemes.
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An important milestone in this area was the establishment of a modern abattoir (Deonar Abattoir) at Govandi, Mumbai in 1973.
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This has a capacity to slaughter two million sheep and goats and one hundred thousand each buffaloes, bullocks and pigs in a year.
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Further, in the fourth five-year plan, eight bacon factories (in 1970) were established with the foreign assistance.
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A few meat corporations were also formed to take up the development of slaughterhouses.
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Meat production increased almost five times during the last fifteen years and was estimated at 4.9 million tonnes in 1998 and an annual growth rate of 4.1% achieved during the last decade as compared to 4.7% for eggs and 4.3% for milk. APEDA data to be incorporated.
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ICMR recommended 34 g of meat/capita/day.
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Actual consumption is as low as14 gms/capita/day.
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Per capita meat production in India increased from 4.6 Kg/annum in 1991 to 4.9 Kg/annum in 2000.
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The total consumption of meat in 1981 was 38.28 lakh metric tonnes, which has increased to 45.49 lakh metric tonnes in 2000 showing an annual growth rate of 1.7%.
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During the year 2004 the quantity of meat produced in recognised slaughterhouses in Tamil Nadu was 43 million Kgs with the value of meat at Rs.410 crores.
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At present, almost 91.01 million animals are slaughtered annually yielding 4.9 million tones of meat.
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From this 60.6% is contributed by the sheep and goats and 15.6% by cattle and buffaloes.
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Nearly, 99% pig population is slaughtered annually contributing 9.9% of the total meat production.
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Poultry with a population of 467 million contribute 0.44 million tones of meat (10.7% of total meat production).
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There has been an impressive rise in the share of poultry and pig meat over the years and the same trend is likely to continue in future also.
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The traditional form of meat industry is characterized by unorganized sector in the hands of butcher-workers with very little knowledge of personal hygiene.
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There are about 3600 licensed slaughterhouses in the country, which includes 128 in Tamil Nadu.
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A large number of them are outdated and substandard according to the present production and processing technology specifications.
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These slaughterhouses operate as service abattoirs where butchers slaughter the animals for a fee and both edible and non-edible parts of the carcasses are delivered to the butchers.
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Most of them need modernization with facilities for lairage, slaughter hall, chilling room, rendering plant, etc.
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While it is imperative to have al these facilities in big cities, a semi-modern approach with mechanical hoist facility is the workable proposition for modern and small sized towns
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