15 November 2022 - Nouriture, aka Anmol Feeds Private Limited, one of India’s leading feed manufacturers, has been on what it describes as a “steady expansion path” since its creation more than two decades ago, developing its market presence in poultry and aqua feeds across Eastern, North-Eastern and Southern India. Over the years, the company has been expanding its production capabilities with the objective of helping farmers yield high returns.
At present, Anmol Feeds operates seven manufacturing plants across five states - Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir, and Jharkhand. They have a cumulative production capacity of 1,300 tonnes per day.
Anmol Feeds says it caters to the livestock feed requirements of 20 states across India and is working with more than 50,000 farmer families and 1,000 employees. Today with its production facilities, the company produces a wide range of livestock feeds to meet what it describes as “modern livestock farming needs” which are suited for Indian climatic conditions.
And, to fuel the next chapter of its growth, Anmol Feeds is planning to expand in the North Indian market and in Bihar with “three new factory projects lined up”, according to Mr. Amit Saraogi, Founder and Owner at Anmol Feeds.
In addition to capacity developments, Anmol Feeds also launched an AI-enabled e-commerce portal in 2021 called NTS (Nouriture Technical Services), revamped its packaging to integrate QR codes, and initiated a cattle feed campaign with brand ambassador Pankaj Tripathi, a celebrity Bollywood actor, to push forward Nouriture’s innovation programme and help rejuvenate the dairy business.
“Nouriture is embracing change in the livestock feed industry thereby creating value for all its stakeholders,” Mr. Saraogi told Feedinfo in a recent interview.
Indian feed sector potential
Mr. Saraogi first spoke about the opportunities which have arisen in India’s growing feed industry.
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“India currently represents one of the largest feed producers in the world. The livestock sector currently contributes 25.6% to the agricultural GDP and 4.11% to the national GDP and can grow further. The Indian animal feed market size reached a value of almost INR 403.5 billion in 2020. The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 15% between 2021 and 2026 to reach a value of almost INR 933.3 billion by 2026,” he said, citing figures from expertmarketresearch.com. Mr. Saraogi explained that for the last few years, the industry has been undergoing a phase of growth, and this trend is expected to continue in the coming years. It is also a very competitive sector; some of the key players besides Anmol Feeds are Godrej Agrovet, Cargill India, Japfa India, and Avanti Feeds. |
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Amit Saraogi“This is a sizeable and scalable industry, one which is still quite untapped and hence has a great potential to evolve on a global commercial level,” he commented.
Besides this untapped potential, he said that other growth drivers include the ever-increasing livestock population, growth of the end-user industries, and the increase in domestic consumption of animal protein along with the increase in consumer purchasing power. The increase in animal protein consumption in turn requires more feed of better quality.
“One of the biggest challenges that producers of farm animals face are the rising costs of feed, which can account for up to 70% of total production expenses. Furthermore, around 25% of the available nutrients in feed cannot be fully utilised by the animals due to anti-nutritional factors,” Mr. Saraogi said, adding that the Indian livestock sector is gradually shifting away from traditional feed towards more use of industrial compound feed – seen to be more consistent in quality and supply due to improved throughput and optimised feed mill production capacity.
Raw materials and climate change
Availability of raw materials and other inputs also plays an important role.
“Livestock Farming has become overpriced,” Mr. Saraogi said. “Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, agrochemical and animal feed prices have shot up by 10-15% due to supply chain disruption and rising prices of key inputs such as crude oil, soybean and maize.”
“Previously due to the impact of Covid, prices of raw materials had risen, affecting the entire supply chain. This situation has now been aggravated due to the Ukraine crisis,” he added. “In such situations, the farmer skips or uses lower quantities and has reduced yields, which negatively affects their finances.”
However, in Mr. Saraogi’s view, feed producers in India are fully aware of the challenge. They are “ready to alleviate costs of raw materials via effective and efficient strategies, which in turn acts as fuel for growth, productivity, employment and provides a competitive edge to boost the overall economy of the nation,” he commented.
In the longer term, he believes that this feed sector approach will make India a hub for both domestic and international livestock feed manufacturing.
Like other global feed markets, India too is faced with the climate change challenge. This was a central theme of the recent Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers of India (CLFMA) 63rd National Symposium 2022 (30 September – 1 October 2022).
Mr. Neeraj Kumar Srivastava, Chairman at CLFMA said that the “current focus [of the Indian feed sector] is the adoption of modern solutions to overcome existing and upcoming challenges.”
Mr. Saraogi, who was also present at that event, concurs: “As livestock is an important source of livelihood, it is necessary to find suitable solutions not only to maintain this industry as an economically viable enterprise, but also to enhance profitability and decrease environmental pollutants by reducing the ill-effects of climate change,” he said.
“The most significant direct impact of climate change on livestock production comes from heat stress,” he added. “Heat stress results in a significant financial burden to livestock producers through decreases in milk production, meat production, reproductive efficiency and animal health. Exposure to heat stress leads to reduced feed intake and increased water intake by animals. There are changes in their physiological and biological status, which in turn increase the maintenance requirements leading to lower FCR. Hypothetically, milk production in cows may drop by 20–27% in the summer.”
In his opinion, however, with sector innovations, especially the development of molecular biotechnologies, new opportunities are available to characterise DNA expression and identify key cellular responses to heat stress. “These tools will enable improved accuracy and efficiency of selection for heat tolerance,” he said.
“Systematic information generated on the effects of climate change on livestock production will prove very valuable in developing appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies to sustain livestock production in the changing climate scenario,” Mr. Saraogi went on to say.
