Kokrajhar’s pig sub-sector: Current status, constraints and opportunities Rameswar Deka, William Thorpe, M. Lucila Lapar and Anjani Kumar Project Report June 2007 Kokrajhar’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...............................................................................................................................v Foreword....................................................................................................................................vi Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................vii Executive summary .................................................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................10 1.1. Background to the study ......................................................................................... 10 1.2. Objectives............................................................................................................... 11 1.3. Approach and methods........................................................................................... 11 1.4. Expected outputs..................................................................................................... 14 2. Historical and demographic overview............................................................................. 16 2.1. Kokrajhar and its people.......................................................................................... 16 2.2. Rural economics and the role of pigs....................................................................... 19 2.3. The pig sub-sector and its contribution to livelihoods: hypotheses .......................... 23 3. Marketing of pigs and consumption of pork.................................................................... 25 3.1. Projections of demand and supply of pork .............................................................. 26 3.2. Current supply chain of pigs and pig meat .............................................................. 30 3.2.1. Output market (piglets, slaughter pigs and pork)............................................. 30 3.2.2. Input market (piglet, feed and veterinary inputs)............................................. 37 3.3. Pig meat consumption and preferences................................................................... 39 3.4. Food safety and human nutrition issues................................................................... 41 3.5. Main issues in consumption and marketing ............................................................. 42 4. Pig production systems.................................................................................................... 45 4.1. Ethnic and geographic distribution .......................................................................... 45 4.2. Classification of production systems ........................................................................ 47 4.3. Breeding and reproductive management................................................................. 50 4.4. Feeding management .............................................................................................. 52 4.5. Health management................................................................................................ 55 4.6. Main issues in production systems........................................................................... 56 5. Policy and institutional issues.......................................................................................... 60 5.1. Regulatory environment .......................................................................................... 60 5.2. Government and donor participation in the pig sub-sector...................................... 61 5.3. Delivery of livestock services................................................................................... 63 5.3.1. Clinical and preventive veterinary services..................................................... 63 ii 5.3.2. Breeding services............................................................................................ 64 5.3.3. Production and health extension .................................................................... 64 5.4. Producer organizations............................................................................................ 65 5.5. Institutional linkages................................................................................................ 65 5.6. Main policy and institutional issues ......................................................................... 65 6. Conclusions and recommendations................................................................................. 68 Bibliography............................................................................................................................. 75 List of abbreviations................................................................................................................. 84 Appendix 1: Key informants interviewed in Kokrajhar district, the research team and the key resource persons ...................................................................................................................... 85 Appendix 2: Agro-climatic zones ............................................................................................. 86 iii List of tables Table 1: List of surveyed clusters, villages and markets surveyed in Kokrajhar district .14 Table 2: Some key statistics for Kokrajhar district ........................................................17 Table 3: Land use (‘000 hectares) in Assam state and in the five surveyed districts ......18 Table 4: Numbers (‘000) and percentages of farm families by size of land holdings in Assam state and in the five surveyed districts ..............................................................20 Table 5: Numbers (‘000) and percentages of pigs in rural areas in Assam state and in the five surveyed districts ............................................................................................21 Table 6: Per capita consumption of pork (kg/annum) in urban and rural areas and for rural social groups in three NE states...........................................................................25 Table 7: Per capita consumption of pork (kg/annum) in urban and rural areas in selected districts of Assam...........................................................................................25 Table 8: Quantity of pork sold in markets in Kokrajhar district, November 2006.........27 Table 9: Projection of demand for and supply of pork in Kokrajhar district, 2006 to 2010 ...........................................................................................................................29 Table 10: Estimated number of piglets traded in the surveyed weekly markets ............32 Table 11: Socio-economic and production characteristics of the pig systems of Kokrajhar district.........................................................................................................46 Table 12: Pig production systems by management type in Kokrajhar district ...............48 Table 13: Pig performance in the two management types, Kokrajhar district ...............49 Table 14: Feed resources used by different ethnic groups in Kokrajhar district ............53 Table 15: Calendar showing the seasonal availability of feeds in Kokrajhar district .....53 Table 16: District-wise progress of SGSY program in Assam........................................63 iv List of figures Figure 1: Map of Kokrajhar district showing the pig clusters. .......................................13 Figure 2: Supply chain for piglet marketing in Kokrajhar district..................................31 Figure 3: Marketing costs for piglets in Kokrajhar and the other four surveyed districts. ...................................................................................................................................33 Figure 4: Relative marketing costs for piglets in Kokrajhar and the other four surveyed districts. ......................................................................................................................33 Figure 5: Supply chain for slaughter pig and pork marketing in Kokrajhar district........34 Figure 6: Marketing costs for pork in Kokrajhar and the other four surveyed districts...36 Figure 7: Relative marketing costs for pork in Kokrajhar and the other four surveyed districts. ......................................................................................................................37 v Foreword The present study is one of a series of five reporting appraisals of the pig sub-sectors of selected districts in Assam State, Northeast (NE) India. This report covers the district of Kokrajhar; the other districts were Kamrup, Karbi Anglong, Dhemaji and Golaghat. A sixth report