Slaughter Equipment

How cattle slaughter rules threaten economy, revolt in South India

Indian buffalo meat is in great demand in the world market as it's cheaper. India also sells 'halal' meat, the preferred choice in Muslim countries among others. Vietnam, Malaysia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are the major buyers of Indian buffalo meat. According to US department of agriculture estimates, India is the biggest beef (most of it buffalo meat) exporter in the world with over 1.1 million tonnes shipped. The market is said to be worth over Rs 26,000 crore. In India, cow meat accounts for just 5 per cent of the total meat produced in the country while buffalo meat is 23 per cent of the total production. That is to say, the impact of this new ban could be far more devastating than the cow slaughter ban.

The human cost of the ban is also enormous-it is likely to impact close to 22 million people involved in the meat industry. Around 80 per cent animals for slaughter are bought in the marketplace. As per the new directive, farmers have to take the cattle directly to the slaughterhouse or abattoir owners will have to reach out to farmers, which may create logistical issues for both buyers and sellers. eastern region chairman of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). "This new notification will disrupt that and farmers will lose their bargaining power. The only people to benefit will be middlemen."

The ban on cow slaughter in many states and the lower fat content in milk have already resulted in many farmers shifting from rearing cows and bulls to buffaloes. The numbers say it all-between 1951 and 2012, the cow and bull population grew 23 per cent while the buffalo population shot up 150 per cent. According to the 2012 livestock census, buffaloes comprised 38 per cent of India's total bovine population. Also, states with stringent anti-cow slaughter laws have much higher buffalo numbers than the all-India average-Haryana (77 per cent), Punjab (67 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (61 per cent), Gujarat (51 per cent) and Rajasthan (50 per cent), confirming the farmers' preference. On the other hand, states without bans had the highest share of cow and bull numbers-Kerala (93 per cent), West Bengal (96.5 per cent) and Assam (91 per cent). The correlation was most explicit in Maharashtra, which imposed a ban on even bull slaughter in March 2015. The prices of buffaloes went up from an average Rs 35,000 to Rs 65,000.

In Maharashtra alone, the used-cattle market had an annual turnover of Rs 1,180 crore. "It is unproductive cattle that arrives in large numbers for sale, as their maintenance cost starts to pinch. High-yielding animals rarely arrive at the cattle market," says Fauzan Alavi, general secretary of the All India Meat & Livestock Exporters Association (AIMLEA). Now, with the ban on even buffalo trade, farmers will have no option but to abandon their unproductive cattle.

According to the 19th Livestock census in 2012, the country has 5.3 million stray cows and bulls. The new slaughter policy is likely to significantly increase the number of stray buffaloes also. Growing urbanisation and shrinking grazing land have also made it difficult for stray cattle to survive for long. In India, there is a deficit of 64 per cent in green fodder and 24 per cent in dry fodder, says a vision document of the Indian Grassland and Fodder Institute (IGFI). According to the Uttar Pradesh-based Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Pashu Chikitsa Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya Evam Go-Anusandhan Sansthan, India needs Rs 11,607 crore annually to feed all its stray cattle. VHP central secretary Khemchand Sharma has a plan for this: "The government should remove illegal occupation from pasture land and should make them cow sanctuaries."