Beef consumption is becoming more popular in India as a source of protein intake as some pulses have become costlier than the meat
NEW DELHI: Beef consumption is becoming more popular in India as a source of protein intake as some pulses have become costlier than the meat, says the American Agriculture Department.
“Beef [buffalo meat] is increasingly becoming popular as a protein source compared to pulses, some of which have become more expensive than buffalo meat,” the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a report.
In its ‘India Livestock and Products Annual 2008’, USDA said both poultry and buffalo meat have “no specific religious sentiments attached” to their consumption.
However, the US body quoting Census of India also said Hindus who comprises around 80% of the total population do not consume beef, while 13% Muslims do not eat pork. “Nevertheless, the younger generation is changing their food habits to non-vegetarian and other processed foods. Consequently, with rising income levels, domestic meat consumption has the potential to rise further,” it noted.
Buffalo and poultry meat is popular in India because of their price competitiveness, it added. Beef consumption is forecast to increase by 5% to 1.94 million tons during 2009 from the previous year. The report also said per capita beef consumption is estimated at 1.6 kg compared to 1.8 kg for poultry meat. “Beef consumption continues to rise as it remains the cheapest of all the meats available in the domestic market,” it said.
The per capita meat consumption in India is estimated at 5.5 kg per year, which is much lower than 10.8 kg per year as recommended by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), USDA said.
Per capita consumption of meat in India is below the international average because there is a large segment of the population — 20 per cent — that is strictly vegetarian.
Quoting National Samples Survey Organisation (NSSO) data, the US farm body said the share of eggs, fish and meat in total protein intake by the Indian population is only four per cent in rural areas and 5.5 per cent in urban areas.
However, NSSO survey indicates that Indian food consumption patterns are slowly shifting from cerealspulses to high value fruits and vegetables, processed foods and meat and meat products, it noted.
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