Assam’s pig subsector Current status, constraints and opportunities Assam’s pig sub-sector: Current status, constraints and opportunities Rameswar Deka, William Thorpe, M. Lucila Lapar and Anjani Kumar Project report September 2007 Assam’s pig sub-sector: current status, constraints and opportunities Rameswar Deka, William Thorpe, M. Lucila Lapar and Anjani Kumar1 International Livestock Research Institute CG Block, NASC Complex, DPS Marg, Pusa Campus New Delhi-110012 INDIA 1Respectively: consultant, ILRI-Guwahati; consultant ILRI-Delhi; economist, ILRI-Hanoi; and economist, ILRI-Delhi. Corresponding author: [email protected] i Table of contents List of tables ...............................................................................................................................iv List of figures..............................................................................................................................vi Foreword...................................................................................................................................vii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................viii Executive summary .................................................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction..................................................................................................................... 11 1.1. Background to the study........................................................................................... 11 1.2. Objectives ................................................................................................................ 11 1.3. Approach and methods ............................................................................................ 12 1.4. Expected outputs ...................................................................................................... 15 2. Historical and demographic overview ............................................................................. 17 2.1. Assam and its people................................................................................................ 17 2.2. The rural economy and the role of pigs..................................................................... 22 2.3. The pig sub-sector and its contribution to livelihoods: hypotheses............................ 24 3. Marketing of pigs and consumption of pork..................................................................... 26 3.1. Projections of demand and supply of pork................................................................ 26 3.2. Current supply chain of pigs and pig meat................................................................ 31 3.2.1. Output market (piglets, slaughter pigs and pork)............................................... 31 3.2.2. Input market (piglets, feed and veterinary inputs).............................................. 40 3.3. Pig meat consumption and preferences .................................................................... 43 3.4. Food safety and human nutrition issues .................................................................... 47 3.5. Main issues in consumption and marketing............................................................... 49 4. Pig production systems .................................................................................................... 52 4.1. Ethnic and geographic distribution............................................................................ 52 4.2. Classification of production systems.......................................................................... 53 4.3. Breeding and reproductive management .................................................................. 63 ii 4.4. Feeding management................................................................................................ 65 4.5. Health management ................................................................................................. 71 4.6. Main issues in production systems ............................................................................ 74 5. Policy and institutional issues .......................................................................................... 78 5.1. Regulatory environment............................................................................................ 78 5.2. Government and donor participation in the pig sub-sector ....................................... 81 5.3. Delivery of livestock services .................................................................................... 87 5.3.1. Clinical and preventative veterinary services .................................................... 87 5.3.2. Breeding services.............................................................................................. 89 5.3.3. Production and health extension ...................................................................... 90 5.4. Producer organizations ............................................................................................. 91 5.5. Institutional linkages ................................................................................................. 91 5.6. Main policy and institutional issues........................................................................... 92 6. Conclusions and recommendations.................................................................................. 95 Bibliography........................................................................................................................... 104 List of abbreviations............................................................................................................... 114 Appendix 1: Key informants interviewed in the project districts, the research team and the key resource persons.............................................................................................................. 115 Appendix 2: Agro-climatic zones ........................................................................................... 117 iii List of tables Table 1: Districts, clusters, villages and markets covered by the appraisal of the pig sub- sector in Assam state...................................................................................................15 Table 2: Socio-economic statistics for Assam state and the districts of Dhemaji, Golaghat, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong and Kokrajhar........................................................18 Table 3: Distribution of tribal and OBC communities in surveyed districts of Assam ...20 Table 4: Land use in Assam state and in the five districts surveyed for the pig sub-sector appraisal (‘000 hectares) .............................................................................................21 Table 5: Numbers (‘000) and percentages of farm families by size of land holdings in Assam state and in the five surveyed districts ..............................................................22 Table 6: Numbers (‘000) and percentages of pigs in rural and urban areas in Assam state and in the five surveyed districts .........................................................................23 Table 7: Per capita consumption of pork (kilograms per annum) in urban and rural areas and for rural social groups in three northeastern states .......................................26 Table 8: Estimates of sales and consumption of pork for the year 2006 and projections of consumption in 2010 in the five surveyed districts ..................................................27 Table 9: Quantity of pork sold in markets in Kamrup district in October 2006 ...........29 Table 10: Projected demand for and supply of pork in Kamrup district, 2006 to 2010.30 Table 11: Percentage of marketed piglets sold through market chains in five districts..31 Table 12: Percentage of slaughter pigs sold in market chains in five districts ...............36 Table 13: Prices of pork and offal in the five surveyed districts....................................44 Table 14: Changes in meat prices in Kamrup over the last five years ...........................45 Table 15: Percentage of pig-rearing households amongst different ethnic groups in the five surveyed districts..................................................................................................53 Table 16: Socio-economic and production characteristics of pig production...............55 Table 17: Estimated percentage of pig-rearing households in the five districts by pig management type........................................................................................................56 Table 18: Estimated percentage of pig-rearing households the five districts by pig management type and their production practices........................................................57 Table 19: Performance reported for the predominant pig genotype in the three management systems in each surveyed district............................................................62 Table 20: Feed resources used by different ethnic groups in the five surveyed districts66 Table 21: Calendar of seasonal availability of feeds in the surveyed districts ...............70 iv Table 22: Traditional herbs and treatments used in Dhemaji district for some pig diseases.......................................................................................................................73 Table 23: District-wise progress of the SGSY program in Assam ..................................81