Visakhapatnam:
Nations like Egypt and Oman, who are the world’s biggest buffalo meat importers, are all set to buy beef from the modern abattoir in the port city.
A team of representatives from the two countries recently visited the modern abattoir and after inspecting the conditions, approved the import of beef under the aegis of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). The export of meat would start soon after the official inauguration of the abattoir by the state government next month.
This apart, other countries like United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq, Iran, China, Vietnam and Russia are also likely to import the meat from the city.
Vizag Foods Private Limited (VFPL) director Mohammed Naziruddin confirmed that both Egypt and Oman have in principle agreed to import beef from Vizag. “The modern abattoir, which will be the third biggest in the country, will maintain a blast freezer on the lines of the ones in European countries. The meat will be frozen at -40 degree Celsius under the blast freezing system. Everything is mechanised except the Halal (cutting the throat of the animal). The animal will be left alone for nearly 20 to 30 minutes after the slaughter before the subsequent processing is taken up,” he said.
“If everything goes according to plans including the inauguration of the abattoir, we will start business from August this year. We will start procuring the buffaloes soon after the inauguration,” Naziruddin said, adding that the farmers will no longer need to take the animals to Hyderabad for the same purpose.
The abattoir has a capacity of generating a maximum of 90 tonnes of bovine meat in a day. About 600 buffaloes are required to generate 90 tonnes of meat. Similarly, it has a capacity of slaughtering 2,000 sheep in a day. “While the buffalo meat will be exported, the sheep meat will be for the local market,” Naziruddin said, adding that Visakhapatnam Port Trust will be the channel for exporting the meat to foreign ports including the Port of El Iskandariya in Egypt.
The male bovines will be procured from neighbouring Odisha, West Bengal and also from north coastal districts like Srikakulam and Vizianagaram. The VFPL will give special incentives and advances to the farmers to market the animals to the abattoir which has a dedicated area of nearly 1 acre to keep the animals.
According to sources from the APEDA, April to October is the best season for the export of the bovine meat from the country. There is high demand for India’s buffalo meat in China as it is the only country that imports the buffalo offal such as buffalo liver, heart and tongue and other internal organs. India exports nearly 8 lakh to 10 lakh tonnes of buffalo meat every year worth Rs 16,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore, of which 50 per cent is exported to China.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Visakhapatnam / by V. Kamalakara Rao, TNN / May 27th, 2016