Gujarat recorded a 21 percent dip in the number of livestock and poultry slaughtered for meat, states National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in its “State Focus Paper 2023-24” published last month.
Compared to 2.99 crore livestock which includes buffaloes, goat, sheep, pigs and poultry that were slaughtered for meat production in 2018-19, the numbers have fallen to over 2.34 crore livestock in 2019-20, states NABARD quoting pre-Covid data.
While there has been a 24 percent increase in the number of buffaloes and a 4.4 percent increase in number of pigs slaughtered for meat in 2019-20, there has been a 24 percent, 18 percent and 21 percent dip respectively in the number of sheep, goat and poultry slaughtered for meat production in Gujarat.
Highlighting “critical infrastructure gaps”, NABARD recommended setting up of modern slaughterhouses or skin or leather processing units across four districts of Ahmedabad, Junagadh, Banaskantha and Aravalli.
NABARD officials could not be contacted for comments on the recommendations made to the Gujarat government.
The total egg production in Gujarat during 2020-21 is estimated at 17,863 lakh eggs, showing a decrease from previous year’s production of 19,274 lakh eggs.
The Bank also recommended to the state government to provide “subsidy for poultry feed” to help develop the poultry sector.
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