Politics of Trade - How and Why Indian Poultry Sector is under Threat?

Conflict of Interest and Politics of Trade

How and Why Indian Poultry Sector is under threat?
By:
Vijay Sardana

Game plan of Foreign Funded NGOs to destabilise Indian Poultry Market to promote Imports from Donor Countries.

(Read carefully, your sector may be next in line)

India is a huge market. Another example of unfair business practises to make entry into Indian markets after stories like Mustard oil is bad, ghee is bad, spices are bad, coconut oil is pure poison, all generic pesticides are bad, etc. etc. now target is poultry sector.

Read it careful, how this game is unfolding. Feel free to share.

At the outside let me say that no sensible person will ever oppose the need to have better animal welfare, better and safe food, good climate change and control of disease in human, animals, and plants. At the same time, these are highly technical issues and have a very serious interplay.
Indian poultry researchers and scientists have proposed a standard after detailed studies, but foreign funded NGOs want to impose Cold Climate Standards (of donors) in a hot climate country like India, which will lead to disaster. Is this fair?

Any decision needs very careful planning to ensure that India’s economic interests, food security, and poultry farmers interest are not compromised by the illogical and unscientific planted stories by the vested interests via some foreign-funded NGOs, those who never sign “conflict of interest” declaration when they represent their interest in the meetings.

Animal welfare is an extremely complex subject and an evolving science. Countries those who adopted the animal welfare standards without understanding its implications are either suffering or regretting their decisions. 2017 was disaster for EU poultry sector because their illogical and badly conceived animal welfare approach is not able to control the spread of disease infections. Other countries are just studying its implications and learning from others’ mistakes and working out a sensible approach with stakeholders before making it a law.

India must not take any hasty decision under the pressure of foreign-funded NGOs because there is well-defined agenda to keep India out of the international market and this can happen if efficient poultry industry is destroyed or the cost advantages of India is destroyed so that India cannot compete in the world market.

Let me place hard facts before you so that you can appreciate that our concerns are valid and logical, and we need your support to prevent any damage to farmers and Indian poultry industry by wrong decisions due to ignorance in haste or under pressure from foreign-funded NGOs.

Let me state few facts in brief:

1.   Cruelty to anyone never leads to consistent performance: The fact is today Indian poultry sector is among the best in the world when it comes to productivity. If our poultry birds are suffering, they cannot be the best producer in the world in all parameters. This performance is proved at all levels and all the times. This is the reason why global poultry players are not able to make any dent in the Indian poultry market. Now they want to destroy this efficient market so that they can sell their expensive and subsidised products to Indian consumers. All these court cases and animal welfare agenda and defaming Indian poultry sector is part of their game plan. NGOs representatives, off-the-record says, they know they are wrong but they are funded by donors to destroy the competition in Indian market. They are following donors’ instructions.

2.   India’s hot climate is a disaster for poultry:  Poultry performs best between 11 and 21 degrees Celsius. Europe can afford to rear birds in the open in the name of the free range. India’s average temperature is 30 to 45 degrees Celsius. This will lead to massive bird mortality and reduction in egg production as high as 70 to 80%. Indian farmers and poultry industry will be ruined.  Foreign funded NGOs know this and in the name of animal welfare they are pushing removal of all cages in environment controlled sheds and other sheds in India. Poultry also provides a market for 70% of maize and soybean farmers they will also be ruined. Should India copy western ideas designed for cold climate housing system blindly? This planted animal welfare agenda is nothing but a conspiracy to ruin Indian rural economy and to gain market access in Indian poultry market. 

Farmers' Challenge to Foreign funded NGOs: We should ask foreign-funded NGOs to provide the answer to this challenge - how to ensure productivity in the methods they are proposing. Birds in more comfortable environment, should give more productivity and mortality should go down. We are open to conduct trials with these NGOs.

3.   Any alternate model needs to be studied in detail and data must be shared with all stakeholders: As per the directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, a stakeholders meeting was called by Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change on 20.09 2016 under the Chairmanship of Secretary to Govt of India. It was decided and minuted that all stakeholders will undertake studies and submit the reports. NGOs were flashing various reports from various cold climate countries. Indian poultry research institutes conducted the detailed studies based on Indian climatic conditions. Indian farmers and Indian poultry industry said we will go by whatever Indian poultry research institutes will propose for Indian conditions. Foreign-funded NGOs refused to conduct the studies in India or even refused to participate in the studies by poultry research institutes of the government of India. Once the studies were submitted to the government by poultry research institutes. After reading the reports, the foreign-funded NGOs, in fact, replied by saying, “It is a matter of ethics and emotions, science cannot answer these issues”.

4.   On Climate change mitigation strategy in food production, FAO says an efficient production system and high productivity is must: Today, addressing climate change challenges is the national and global priority. Indian poultry industry has developed on the best productivity standards in the world. If we go by what foreign-funded NGOs are suggesting, besides killing the poultry sector as a whole, the Green Houses gases emissions will go up by 30 to 50% from poultry sector because of increased mortality, increased water consumption, increased feed intake and increased fuel consumption. The main cause of concern for many competing countries those who are funding these NGOs is not able to export their inefficient and expensive products to India. Today, foreign-funded NGOs are creating issues in the name of animal welfare, then they will make an issue of Indian poultry industry is polluting climate due to increased Green House Gases. They do not want Indian to become big poultry power in the world market because their donors will suffer the most.

5.   Due to huge socio-economic and political implications, Courts must leave the decision to the Government: Even if due to some pressure from vested interest, if courts or government decides to implement a foreign-funded NGOs agenda in India. In that case, following implications will be known to the government. To produce the same amount of eggs which are produced in India as of today, which is much lower than our minimum requirements for healthy citizens:

a.Poultry farmers will need 3 to 4 times more land to maintain the same level of production.

b.Cost of the changeover to NGO suggested production system will cost about USD 15 billion to the country. The government must arrange subsidy to make the changeover.

c.EU law 12 years for change over to rich farmers of EU and massive subsidy. India will need at least 25 years and about USD 20 to 30 billion for changeover due to size and number of large number of small farmers involved.

d.Cost of the egg will increase by 3 times. Today, consumers can’t afford egg that is why poultry farmers demand subsidised maize and soybean. Who will consume eggs at 3 times the price? These NGOs will then jump and shout about malnutrition in India. (They may push synthetic vitamins of another set of Donors).

e. Government is planning doubling farmers income by 2022. This agenda of foreign-funded NGOs will not only ruin the poultry farmers but will also ruin maize, soybean and other oilseed farmers and allied industries which are depended on the poultry sector. Doubling farmers income will remain dream forever.

f. In 2017, after adopting animal welfare standards, EU industry was ruined due to bird flu attack because in the new housing systems there is no way they can control spread of infection coming from external environment like wild birds. The only way they controlled the infection by ordering to confine the birds indoors, means going back to cages. That is why now there is rethinking about the Animal welfare norms on housing systems. Globally the debate has died down after 2017 disaster. But, foreign-funded NGOs will continue to target India because they are funded by their masters and competitors of India to do the dirty job.

Request:

We have all the technical data to discuss each and every point raised by foreign-funded NGOs. We are open to discussing any agenda item, at any forum, anywhere in the world to protect Indian poultry farmers and poultry industry from these disastrous designed.

I have following requests to make:

1.Remove all foreign-funded NGOs from all committees of all the ministries. There MUST be a law to ban them in all policy-making bodies.

2.All those who attend the meetings on any agenda in Government of India and its bodies and in state governments must sign a “conflict of interest” declaration as prescribed by OECD. Are you doing it in your department? This will bring accountability and transparency into the decision making process. 

3.Please call inter-ministerial meetings because these NGOs may also be supported by some political people or officers in high positions because of various consideration. Government should discuss on how to neutralise these vested interest.

4.Courts should be advised, with the help of the appropriate channel, not to pass any order unless all facts are evaluated and submitted by the government of India because of complex and serious nature of the agenda.

5.As a representative of poultry farmers and poultry industry of India, we are always available with all facts and figures to assist the government in taking correct, logical decisions in the interest of India and Indian farmers.

6.The donors of foreign-funded NGOs may not like it and may try to create a bad name for Indian poultry industry and may use some dirty tricks. We should not worry and we should be ready for all this. After all, India is 1,3 billion market, they will do anything to get access to this market.

Poultry farmers will need your support to neutralise design of foreign-funded NGOs. 

On behalf of all farmers, I can assure you that poultry farmers of India will always remain committed to providing best protein food to Indian consumer in the most cost-effective manner and will also provide the market for our fellow farmers in maize, soybean, other oil seeds, and grain crops. No one should be allowed to destabilise this.

Question is: Why foreign funded NGOs are not accepting research findings of Indian scientists? Why they only want research of cold climate countries to be adopted blindly in hot climate countries like India?

Poultry is and will remain the biggest catalyst in doubling farmers income.

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