LPT 321: Meat Science (1+1)

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

• The odds are many, which are the major deterrent for many corporates to get into the sector.
• The main reason is the religious overtones in meat processing and animal slaughtering.
• The other reasons are availability of cattle or food animals. The organised cattle rearing are very labour intensive and there are too many pitfalls and uncertainties.
• Pollution control is also a major issue. The fodder and animal feed are also very scarce. To organise this  is a mammoth task in India and if one wants to do it government policies, infrastructural framework and political will are almost non-existent.
• Besides, only productive, non-milking buffaloes are allowed to slaughter and thus meat yield and quality of that meat from aged cattle are not very remunerative in global market where tender meat fetches a better price and is in demand.
• Since the cattle graze in natural ground, Foot and Mouth Disease is an issue. For this reason, particularly in European and American markets Indian meat is not accepted.
• In India buffalo meat is traded whereas all over the world beef is actually from cow, which is banned here. This also has restricted to a limited geographical area.
• As per regulatory practices, in the slaughterhouses in India goat and lamb are certified as healthy ones whereas buffalo is certified as useless by Veterinary Surgeons before slaughtering.