1 June 2022 - Prices for animal nutrition products were in general recovering after COVID-19, but since the start of the heatwave in March, India’s feed industry has been adversely affected, India’s CLFMA (Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers of India) told Feedinfo.
Mr. Neeraj Kumar Srivastava, chairman at CLFMA, commented:
“The early heatwaves that began on 11 March have impacted 15 Indian states and Union Territories as of now, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).”
A record-breaking heatwave in India, exposing hundreds of millions to dangerous temperatures, is damaging the country’s wheat harvest. Some states in India’s breadbasket northern and central regions saw temperature highs of 120 Fahrenheit in the last week of April 2022.
“This unusual early temperature rise has affected mainly the wheat crops in the country. With dried moisture, the wheat yield is down by 20% in some areas and overall feed production [in 2022] is expected to be down by 8%,” Mr. Srivastava said. “Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have suffered the most among the states, with 25 heat waves and severe heatwave days each during this period.”
“With the growing price of maize, the feed industry was relying mainly on wheat. However, looking into the situation there was a steep rise in wheat price in the country coupled with domestic demand and global situation arising because of the Russia-Ukraine war,” Mr. Srivastava added. “To meet the local demand both from the feed sector and the human side, the government of India has taken the decision to ban wheat export earlier this month which is welcomed by the feed industry.”
He said that the increased costs of raw materials will create a huge pressure on the feed industry. “The feed industry in India is currently suffering from the high cost of raw materials, any addition in supply gap or price escalation is going to put an additional burden on the industry.”
“Currently, egg and chicken prices are much lower/at par with the cost of production, and the increased cost to produce feed is further going to dent the profitability and in many cases, it’s going to impact the survival of producers in the country.”
