The Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers Association of India (CLFMA) conducted its 55th Annual General meeting and 63rd national symposium in Mumbai on September 30 and October 1 at Hotel Leela, Mumbai. The theme of the event was ‘Changing Dynamics of Indian Animal Agriculture’ which aimed to capture and assess industry trends, identify key challenges and plan the future for the sector.
Over 450 participants representing all stakeholders in the animal value chain – academicians, feed manufacturers, aqua farmers, animal health and nutrition experts – attended the forum.
Welcoming dignitaries, speakers and members, Suresh Deora, Convenor & Secretary, CLFMA, said, “I would like to extend a warm welcome to our chief guest Shri Purshottam Rupala to the inaugural of our 63rd symposium. He has been a guiding force for welfare schemes for the betterment of farmers across India. I welcome Shri Jatindra Nath Swain who has been spearheading the Blue Revolution project, a central government scheme to help aqua farmers in the country; and Balram Singh Yadav of Godrej Agrovet – a veteran of the industry. I would also like to welcome Shri Tarun Shridhar, Former Secretary AHD, a great supporter of the animal industry.”
Introducing the session, Neeraj Kumar Srivastava, Chairman, CLFMA, said, “Change is the only constant. India’s livestock industry is undergoing a transformation, in tandem with positive macroeconomic and demographic trends. Our current focus is the adoption of modern solutions to overcome existing and upcoming challenges. We appreciate the government’s approachability, which is allowing for faster growth of the industry.”
“India is heading down a new path to success and we are glad to be collaborating closely with the industry. The government will take cognizance of all innovations highlighted by technical experts. The achievements of this industry are building up the nation,” said Parshottam Rupala, Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (AHD) department, Govt. of India, in his address as the Chief Guest at the Symposium.
He recommended implementing waste-to-wealth strategies for the disposal of dead animals. He added that the government is considering PPP (public-private-partnership) models for animal health in alignment with India’s One Health vision.
This was followed by the CLFMA Award Ceremony. The Famous CLFMA awards were given to two leaders, who had diligently worked and contributed to the development of the livestock sector. The Life Time Achievement awards were presented to Er. Anand Menon, FIE, who had contributed a lot to the livestock sector, during his glorious forty years of service as CGM, KSEL, Kerala & CLFMA Award was presented to Dr. Rudra Nath Chatterjee, Director ICAR – Directorate of Poultry Research, Hyderabad for their marvelous contribution to the Indian Livestock Sector. CLFMA Chairman congratulated all the CLFMA award winners.
Balram Singh Yadav, Managing Director of Godrej Agrovet, presented the journey of the industry, highlighting data on growth in production and efficiency over the last two decades. He shared the optimism of the industry, reflected in a CAGR of 7.5% this year. “The next decade is going to be explosive. Investments in animal husbandry will outstrip any industry. Our contribution to agriculture GDP will grow from 37% to 50% in the next 5-6 years,” he said.
Jatindra Nath Swain (Secretary Fy.) said consumer demand is shifting to animal proteins, with a projected 4x rise in consumption by 2047. He urged the participants to adopt sustainable solutions to water and electricity consumption.
An industry survey report was also released on the occasion, followed by a vote of thanks by Divya Kumar Gulati, Deputy Chairman, CLFMA of India.
Cultural Event and Networking Dinner was enjoyed by all participants.
Day two of the Symposium began with the Welcome Address by Mr. Neeraj Kumar Srivastava, Chairman, CLFMA OF INDIA. The first session brought up technology solutions with a focus on data and analytics. “Mitigating the challenges of price escalations of feed ingredients” was moderated by Amit Saraogi, Managing Director of Sarawagi Agrovet. “Our industry has seen unprecedented price hikes for crops like soybean and corn. There is a strong need for unbiased and robust data to prevent unfavourable situations from repeating.”
RMSI Cropalytics’ Kumarjit Mazumder shared a glimpse of the methodologies of their digital crop map tool. It uses satellite images to capture plots of standing crops. A price outlook on relevant commodities like soymeal, mustard cake, cottonseed oil cake, bajra and maize was revealed by Prerana Desai, head of research at Samunnati Agri. She shared observations on the impact of feed substitution, margin pressures and global macroeconomic trends. Kevin M Roepke from USSEC talked about ‘Chickenomics’ with a comparison of India and Sri Lanka. He brought out the increase in USA crush capacity driven by the adoption of renewable fuel policies. Hemant Bansal of Patanjali Foods, representing the Indian Vegetable Oil Producers Association, maintained that prices of crop feed need to be at a reasonable range to guarantee the sustainability of the ecosystem.
Building customer experiences, adopting innovation in branding and hyper-localizing for the domestic market were key call-outs from industry leaders participating in a panel discussion on go-to-market strategies for the livestock industry. The session was moderated by Balram Singh Yadav, Managing Director of Godrej Agrovet.
Dan Meagher, President and CEO of Novus International, said, “The power of branding is very important. Processing of animal products is going to create a new customer experience. Brands are going to differentiate at the customer level.” Suguna Group’s Soundararajan and entrepreneur Dr. Manoj Sharma of Mayank Aquaculture shared their respective learnings from the poultry and shrimp sectors for the benefit of participants of the forum. Bhupendra Suri of Creamline Dairy said, “The idea of private players in value-added categories like ghee, paneer and curd is rising fast, with opportunities for new categories like whey drinks.”
In the final session, Dr. Parminder Singh, Professor of Animal Nutrition at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary And Animal Sciences University, brought up the lacunae in the system. He spoke about technical challenges faced by livestock breeders in implementing standards. Government representatives Dr. Amit Sharma of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Amit Choudhary of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) invited participants to liaise and get involved in developing and amending standards. Highlighting the challenges with verification of reports of milk contamination, Dr. Raghavendra Bhatta, Director of the National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, said, “There is a need for scientific sampling with state-of-the-art laboratories set up to prevent non-compliance.”
The session was moderated by Dr. P. S. Mahesh, Joint Commissioner and Director of Central Poultry Development Organisation and Training Institute, Govt. of India. He encouraged members to approach and engage with the government’s representatives for a better future.
Concluding the symposium, Shri. Tarun Shridhar, former Secretary, AHD, advised, “Rather than offering subsidies, an enabling policy environment and infrastructure support will nurture entrepreneurs and promote growth. We need to capitalize on our vast land resources, address our productivity issues and plan for changing consumer demands. We must also guard against misleading advertisements. Digitalizing, and having a consolidated voice for the industry will be vital going forward.”
CLFMA offered Mementos, to Sponsors, Government Officials, Special Invitees, Moderators, Speakers, Associations, Press, Event Management Company, etc. as a token of appreciation for their continual support as always.
Mr. Suresh Deora proposed the vote of thanks, sharing gratitude to the government representatives, speakers, sponsors, industry stakeholders, special invitees and attendees for their active participation.
The networking Dinner was enjoyed by all participants.
Overall, CLFMA interacted with various stakeholders in the industry and government on the topic Changing Dynamics of Animal Agriculture in India. The association has diverse membership from across the animal protein value chain including feed manufacturing; poultry, dairy, and aquaculture business; animal nutrition and health, veterinary services, machinery and equipment; processing, distribution, and retailing of meat. The program was well appreciated by all the participants.
