India’s Vet health industry guns for POST-COVID recovery
The India animal health market is currently witnessing strong growth. Animal health refers to the regular monitoring of the health of domesticated animals or livestock. It includes the development of veterinary drugs, pesticides, feed additives, pharmaceuticals and biologics. Furthermore, it involves ensuring constant food supply and preventing the outbreak of various zoonotic diseases. Effective practice of animal healthcare also helps in reducing the chances of inter-species infection in a veterinary or a domesticated situation. Major industries such as dairy in India are animal-dependent, owing to which the government invests significantly for improving the animal healthcare practices. According to IMARC Group, significant growth in the veterinary pharmaceutical industry is one of the key factors driving the growth of the market in India. In line with this, the rising prevalence of zoonotic diseases is also providing a boost to the market growth. Additionally, the widespread adoption of feed additives, which aid in enhancing the overall animal health while improving the quality of the produce, including milk, meat and eggs, is creating a positive outlook for the market. India’s veterinary health market was well placed for a stronger growth, but COVID-19 hit it quite hard. With the nation limping back to normal, traders are expecting the business to show steady and positive growth.
The impact of the pandemic has decimated many sectors across the world and India's veterinary health sector is no different, suffering great losses due to the frequent lockdowns imposed across the nation. According to Praxis Global Alliance, a research and advisory firm with its headquarter located in Gurugram, presently, India’s veterinary health market’s consolidated value is $1.6 billion which includes veterinary vaccines, pesticides, feed additives, pharmaceuticals and biologics. This sector was well placed for a stronger growth, but COVID-19 hit it quite hard.
India’s poultry feed industry witnessed a massive drop of $2 billion during the lockdown and experts feel that it will take another year to get the business back to normal. Similarly, India’s pet food market also experienced a shortage of pet food owing to the embargo on imports, as most of the pet food in India is imported. With the nation limping back to normal, traders are expecting the business to show steady and positive growth. The government is also encouraging MSMES and startups to join India’s veterinary health sector and expand its reach with their innovative and creative solutions.
The global socio-economic impact of COVID-19 is unprecedented. This continuously mutating virus has not only claimed countless human lives, but also caused hefty financial losses to many trades. Considering different aspects of livelihood and food security in various economies, this is more than just a health crisis, especially in developing countries like India. The Indian poultry farmers faced massive losses of Rs 130 billion due to the outbreak of the pandemic. Adding more pain to the agony, frequent lockdowns and misinformation forced another huge chunk of farmers directly or indirectly associated with poultry business to close their operations permanently. Similar trade losses were also observed in the meat and dairy sector impacting around 70 million farmers associated with the trade.
Apart from decline in trade, farmers also suffered from issues such as availability of vaccines, animal feed, access to regular medicines for animals, easy availability of veterinarians, para-professionals and community animal health workers. Though the government
Animal Husbandry Department tried hard to get veterinary services delivered to farmers’ doorstep, they failed to cover the entire spectrum. In the first phase of the lockdown, availability of feed, vaccines, medicines etc. was greatly affected but in later stages they were put under essential services hence making them more accessible.
“If we compare the losses of industries such as tourism, restaurant businesses, import & exports etc. then we can certainly say that we have received less hammering. On the brighter side, pandemic has forced many clinics and veterinary hospitals to take a technological spin by providing telemedicine, providing 24 hour consultation services. So this way, the relationship between the vet, veterinary doctor and the owners has been changed after the COVID-19,” stated Ohhun Kwon, Director, A'alda Vet India.
Feed crisis
According to a report by Research and
Markets, Indian animal feed market was worth Rs 400.5 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach a benchmark figure of Rs 898.5 billion by 2024 with a staggering CAGR of 14.3 per cent during 2019-2024. Currently the poultry, aqua and dairy industry accounts for the major share of the Indian animal feed industry. India has catapulted itself as the world’s third-largest egg producer, after China and US; while it is the fourth-largest chicken producer in the world after China, Brazil and US (as reported by Trade Promotion Council of India). However, like many other sectors, the animal feed sector also suffered from losses due to the outbreak of pandemic. The shortage in the supply chain was mainly affected by issues such as unavailability of raw materials, shortage of manpower, decline in demand, logistical issues etc.
Animal feed
The Indian animal feed market reached a value of Rs 942.4 billion in 2020. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to grow at a CAGR of 12.5 per cent during 20212026. India currently represents one of the largest feed producers in the world. Animal feed includes various raw, processed and semiprocessed products that are fed to livestock.
Some of the most common feeds include pasture grasses, cereal grains, hay and silage crops, and other by-products of food crops, such as brewers’ grains, pineapple bran and sugar beet pulp. These products are carefully formulated with the help of
nutritional additives, like vitamins and minerals, to maintain the overall health of animals and improve the quality of various end-products, including eggs, meat and milk.
There has been a rise in public concern regarding the safety of animal-origin food products due to the prevalence of food-borne bacterial infections, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and dioxin contamination. These concerns have prompted regulatory organizations to inspect and improve feeding practices in the country.
It was noted that raw materials used in the production of animal feed, like soybean meal, sorghum and maize, are being diverted for the consumption of humans, leading to a shortage in the feed industry. Furthermore, the expensive nature, and price and supply volatility of these raw materials is encouraging industry players to switch to sustainable and lower-cost ingredients for livestock production. Some of these novel ingredients include insect meal and Distiller’s dried grain with solubles (DDGS). Besides this, currently has a separate set of livestock policies that focus on increasing the overall productivity. Some of the schemes that are acting in favour of the animal feed market include E-pashu Haat, Livestock Insurance Scheme, Rashtriya Gokul Mission, and National Livestock Mission.
Poultry feed
Poultry feed (especially the boiler feed) dominates the Indian animal feed market growing at a CAGR of around 15 per cent during 2015- 2020, according to a report by Techsci Research, a research based management consulting firm. Few of the major players operating in the India poultry feed market include Amrit Feeds Ltd., Godrej Agrovet Ltd., SKM Animal Feeds and Foods (India) Ltd., Suguna Foods Pvt. Ltd., and Prime Avian Feed (India) Pvt. Ltd. However, the outbreak of the virus has forced many feed manufacturing plants to shut down their operations putting the country's feed processing units in doldrums.
As per the industry experts, from the past one year, the demand for poultry feed has fallen drastically (approximately 20-30 per cent) and this is mainly because farmers are now reluctant to raise birds after analysing the current scenario.
“Currently, our feed processing plants are operating with 20-30 per cent of their total
capacity and there are plenty of reasons for that such as shortage in demand, lack of availability of raw material, reduced manpower etc. Outbreak of COVID-19 has made the situation very hostile and if it continues like this then it will become very difficult for us to bear our operational cost,” said Mohit Raja, Director, Raja Fat and Feeds.
Poultry feed industry is currently operating below their capacity due to less demand and closure of broiler farms in the country, and this industry is struggling to grow up again. Owing to the less demand of feed, feed manufacturers are forced to slash down their prices by almost 10-20 per cent. A quintal of feed, which used to fetch around Rs 3,600 earlier, now costs Rs 3,100.
Pet food market
Similar to the poultry feed market; country’s pet food market also witnessed the repercussions of COVID-19 in its trade. Since most of the pet food is imported from other countries, frequent lockdowns and lack of domestic manufacturing lead to a shortfall in the supply chain. In order to address this issue, the Animal Welfare Board of India has started a credit facility given under the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Scheme (AHIDS) for setting up animal feed manufacturing facilities.
“On an average, India requires 30,000 tonnes of pet foods. In India, there are pet food
“If we compare the losses of industries such as tourism, restaurant businesses, import & exports etc. then we can certainly say that we have received less hammering. On the brighter side, pandemic has forced many clinics and veterinary hospitals to take a technological spin by providing telemedicine, providing 24 hour consultation services. So this way, the relationship between the vet, veterinary doctor and the owners has been changed after the COVID-19”.
- Ohhun Kwon, Director, A'alda Vet India
“Currently, our feed processing plants are operating with 20-30 per cent of their total capacity and there are plenty of reasons for that such as shortage in demand, lack of availability of raw material, reduced manpower etc. Outbreak of COVID-19 has made the situation very hostile and if it continues like this then it will become very difficult for us to bear our operational cost”.
- Mohit Raja, Director, Raja Fat and Feeds
manufacturers but not sufficient enough to meet demand and quality. Pet food industry in India is growing at a faster rate and the government is taking measures to address the demand-supply gap and assisting the private sector to invest in setting up of animal feed plant under the Rs 15,000 crore worth AHIDF scheme,” said O P Chaudhary, Chairman, Animal Welfare Board of India. Under the scheme, up to 90 per cent credit is given at a lower rate from scheduled banks to the individuals, MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), FPOS (Farmer Producer Organisations) and Section 8 companies for infrastructure development.
Currently, this sector is ruled by international players such as Mars International India, Royal Canine India, Jerhigh, Eukanuba etc. with dog food and supplies consuming the major market share.
Pharma woes
The major animal diseases against which vaccines needed are Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) (Goat and Sheep), Brucellosis, Swine Fever,
Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (HS) and Black Quarter (BQ) etc. and till date, only four commercial companies Indian Immunological, Hester Bioscience, Brilliant and Biovet that manufacture these vaccines on mass scale. Poultry vaccine sector is dominated by companies such as Venkys India, Hester and a few multinational companies. The outbreak of the pandemic forced most of the companies to stop their operations owing to the shortage of manpower, lack of availability of raw materials, logistical issues etc. On the farmers’ front, they faced a lot of issues in accessing medicines for pregnant animals, facilities for collection of semen for artificial insemination, deworming medicines etc. Elaborating on the situation, Dr Rahul Srivastava, Vice President, Business Development, Hester Biosciences, stated, “Due to the lack of availability of required medicines, ethno-veterinary medicines were adopted during lockdown. Earlier they were primarily used in unorganised and smallholder domains but during this pandemic, organised farmers also considered low cost, locally available entho-veterinary medicines.”
The pandemic has also halted the routine vaccination programme which is run by both central and state government at intervals of six months for Foot and Mouth Disease and haemorrhagic septicaemia for both cattle and buffalos. This might lead to a huge difficulty in controlling disease outbreaks in the near future. Furthermore, the sudden halt of a surveillance programme for the livestock and poultry diseases undertaken by the National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (NIVEDI) in Bengaluru, coupled with the collection of serum samples for serrosurveillance, would lead to a major setback in
disease forecasting. COVID-19 has forced the government to go on an innovative drive in order to expand its reach. Stretching on that, soon the animal husbandry department of Andhra Pradesh (AP) is launching a telemedicine facility for animals. This initiative is first of its kind and it is launched with the support of the central government. Since the disease diagnosis is very important for animals just like humans, the AP state government is implementing the Pashu Sanjivani programme and for that it has deployed 108 ambulance services for animals in each Assembly constituency.
With the help of this telemedicine facility, many livestock farmers operating in the remotest region of the country can avail expert medicinal care even in the very hostile circumstances.
The veterinary telemedicine being launched by AP government focuses on the diagnosis and healthcare of livestock which is raised by farmers for agriculture and commercial purposes.
Shift in business approach
Animal husbandry in India has undergone magnificent changes over the years, thanks to the adoption of innovative technologies used for prevention and cure of farm and companion animals. There has been a paradigm shift in the business approach of animal health companies that have evolved from therapeutics to preventive to productivity enhancement and now to overall healthcare of the animals.
Through new approaches and paradigm, the animal health industry has evolved and propelled the animal husbandry to new heights of glory. India's surge to the top of milk and egg production reinforces the significance of Animal Health Industry. The animal health industry is working together and strengthening the Animal Husbandry in the country.
“On an average, India requires 30,000 tonnes of pet foods. In India, there are pet food manufacturers but not sufficient enough to meet demand and quality. Pet food industry in
India is growing at a faster rate and the government is taking measures to address the demand-supply gap and assisting the private sector to invest in setting up of animal feed plant under the Rs 15,000 crore worth AHIDF scheme”.
- O P Chaudhary, Chairman, Animal Welfare Board of India
“Due to the lack of availability of required medicines, ethnoveterinary medicines were adopted during lockdown.
Earlier they were primarily used in unorganised and smallholder domains but during this pandemic, organised farmers also considered low cost, locally available entho-veterinary medicines.”
- Dr Rahul Srivastava, Vice President, Business Development, Hester Biosciences