3.1 Egypt
3.2 India
3.3 Malaysia
3.4 Mexico
3.5 Nepal
3.6 Nigeria
3.7 The Philippines
3.8 Sri Lanka
3.9 Thailand
3.10 Tunisia
3.11 Venezuela
3.12 Feed ingredient prices
Present demand for feedstuffs among the countries covered in the present report comes predominantly from domestic livestock and poultry industries. Only in a few of these countries, most notably Thailand, is intensive aquaculture of a large enough scale to represent a factor in the overall demand for feed materials. Even in that country, the effects on supplies are felt only in those localities where aquaculture activity is concentrated. To some extent this is true also for semi-intensive carp polyculture in the eastern states of West Bengal and Orissa in India.
Demand for feedstuffs is met by domestic production and/or imports. Except for India, imports continue to play an important role in meeting these demands which are still increasing as a result of expansions of domestic livestock and poultry industries. This dependency on expensive imported materials, especially protein-rich feed supplements such as fish meal and soyabean meal, is viewed as one of the major constraints for aquaculture development.
The present survey suggests a fairly diverse feed supply pattern among different countries. Availability of indigenous sources of feed raw materials, especially of oil seed cakes and meals, cereal by-products and rendering products, such as meat meal and fish meal, is dependent not only on overall agricultural production of the particular country, but also on the degree of industrialization in that country and its demand for refined food products. Essentially all the so-called "conventional" feed raw materials, with the exception of feed grains, are industrial by-products.
While much of the information on usage of feed materials reported herein had been obtained first hand during the course of the survey, most of the information on production, especially that concerning mill by-products, was derived from annual crop production figures published by FAO (FAO 1981 Production Yearbook).
Plant sources constitute the major feed resource in the countries surveyed. These include: basic grains, oil bearing seeds and nuts and their mill by-products, and certain forage crops. Such materials are already heavily utilized by the livestock industry in those countries.
Potential feed resources are animal and crop residues which are generally considered as waste materials. The utilization of such materials as feed has been low due to availability of more convenient alternatives. Waste materials include grain, vegetable and fruit wastes from collection and sorting points as well as from breweries and canneries, and slaughterhouse wastes, which in many countries are often discarded. Crop and animal residues provide a feed reserve that may play an increasingly important role in future aquaculture production. Especially in countries where supplies of grains and concentrates are limited, they can be used as substitutes or can contribute to overall supply of feed materials. However, immediate large-scale replacement of conventional feed ingredients by agricultural and industrial waste products, may not be feasible. The availability of such materials are usually localized and they are not easy to use efficiently. Many have not been evaluated for use in feeding fish, especially as components in balanced aquaculture diets.
The livestock industry in Egypt is undergoing a period of rapid expansion. This places a severe strain on supplies of feedstuffs which traditionally are based on the country's grain and cotton crops.
Maize is the biggest crop with an estimated annual production of about 3 million tonnes. Only a small fraction of this is available as feed. The other major grain crop is rice (2.5 million tonnes) which contributes nearly 400 000 tonnes of feed material in the form of bran and polishings. A slightly smaller harvest of wheat (2 million t) also contributes to the overall feed resource. Assuming that 20 percent of the wheat is milled for flour, this means about 100 000 t of bran and pollard being available as feed.
Production of cottonseed cake and meal is believed to be very large. There are no exact estimates but assuming an annual production of 150 000 t of cottonseed oil, almost 0.5 million t of cottonseed meal must be available each year.
The total supply of all locally produced feedstuffs does not appear adequate to meet demand. Trade in feed commodities is closely regulated by the Government which also has a monopoly of compound feed manufacture. Shortages, especially with regard to animal protein supplements, are met by imports. The country presently imports fish meal, meat meal, and soyabean meal. Supplies to feed mills are subsidized by the Government and receive priority although no re-sale of commodities by the mills is permitted.
Expansion of the feed resource base depends on an increase as well as greater diversification in the country's agricultural base. For the moment, any increase in demand by the expanding feed manufacturing industry will have to be met by imports.
India has ample supplies of feedstuffs to sustain its very large livestock population. From her estimated annual production of 50 million t of milled rice, at least 6 million t of rice bran are available as feed. Her second largest cereal crop, wheat, contributes almost 2 million t of bran and pollard, assuming that only 20 percent of the total harvest of 35 million t of the grain are milled for flour. Among other cereals which are sometimes fed to livestock, even a small percentage of the country's annual production of maize (6 million t) and millet (9 million t) would amount to tens of thousands of tonnes.
India's production of oilseeds consists mainly of groundnut and gingelly (sesame). If the total crop of groundnut is crushed each year for oil, the production of oilcake and meal from this crop amounts to 3.5 million t. Similarly, 0.3 million t of sesame oilcake will be available as feed. To these must be added cake and meal from the milling of cottonseed, soyabean and linseed.
Estimates of production of feeds from India's pulse crops are more difficult to make but supplies of grams and mill by-products of gram flour production are considerable.
Molasses from the country's sugar refineries which process an average annual cane harvest of 120 million t, amount to at least 2 million t of the nutrient-rich feed.
Compared with this huge production of feeds of vegetable origin, India's production of animal protein supplements appears insignificant. Fish meal production in 1972 was said to be only 1 000 t. However, to this must be added considerably larger quantities of dried trash fish which were sold unmilled. Other animal protein sources are wastes from shrimp processing plants and the dairy processing industry. Although demand for poultry products, especially eggs, in the cities, has risen sharply in recent years, total demand for animal protein supplements (for the manufacture of poultry feeds) has not been sufficiently great to stimulate private interests in large-scale exploitation of fish catches for fish meal production. This in turn puts a constraint on expansion and modernization of the feed industry. Nevertheless, the country is for all practical purposes self-sufficient with respect to the supply of feedstuffs, and indeed possesses a substantial surplus of both oilcakes and rice bran which it exports to neighbouring countries.
Feed raw material demand in West Malaysia is estimated at 1 million t in 1981. Despite the country's strong agricultural base, 80 percent of all feed ingredients used in the country have to be imported. Demand over the next decade is expected to continue to increase as the feed industry expands at an estimated 6 percent per year. Major items of import are maize, rice bran, sorghum, tapioca ships, meat meal, fish meal, leaf meal groundnut cakes and sesame cakes. The principal supplying countries are Thailand, China, India, Indonesia, Burma, Australia, Chile and Peru. Until 1981, soyabean meal was imported in large quantities. Recent commissioning of two large soyabean crushing and oil extraction plants has rendered the country self-sufficient with respect to this important feed protein source, although all the beans have to be imported.
Local products include: rice bran, wheat bran, palm kernel cakes, copra cakes, soyabean meal, fish meal, torula yeast, distillery and brewery yeasts, grass meal, molasses and shrimp waste. Wastes from slaughterhouses and food canneries, although available in fairly large quantities, are not fully utilized as feeds.
Prices of feed commodities generally reflect free market forces of supply and demand although, for certain items, particularly soyabean meal and wheat bran which are locally produced from imported grains, protective quotas and tariffs imposed on imports raise prices beyond normal levels. As a result of heavy dependence on imports, wide fluctuations in prices are common. Feed grains such as maize and sorghum, the former primarily from Thailand and the latter also from China, are seasonal crops and the absence of buffer stocks often leads to shortages and, consequently, high prices. Silo storage is limited to a few large modern feedmills, but capacities are less than 6 months' consumption.
While the demand for imported feed ingredients may continue into the next decade at a high rate, the ability of traditional supply sources to maintain exports poses a serious problem for planners in the feed milling industry. China, India and Indonesia are rapidly expanding their poultry and livestock industries, and the present surplus may disappear eventually. For the intermediate term Thailand may continue to be Malaysia's most important supplier of basic feed raw materials.
Currently, most of the imports are handled by commodity traders although large quantities are imported by the feedmills themselves. Retail of feed ingredients is widespread since it is estimated that close to 50 percent of all feeds used are mixed on the farm. General availability of most feed ingredients throughout peninsular Malaysia is good due to an efficient road transportation system.
As a country devoted largely to agricultural production, Malaysia is well placed to increase its domestic output of feed ingredients, particularly feed grains and their byproducts which, together, account for well over 50 percent of all feed ingredients consumed in the country.
Fish meal production which became commercial less than a decade ago, was expected to produce about 25 000 tonnes of the product in 1981, triple that in 1976. However, there are indications that production may be reaching its peak since fish reduction plants are now operating at half capacity on a year-round basis. On the other hand, the high cost of fuel may be limiting the harvest of trash fish, at the same time making many reduction plants uneconomical to operate.
The Government agricultural research body, MARDI, has been studying the processing of trash fish into fish silage as a cheaper alternative to fish meal for use in feeding of conventional livestock. Similar studies to develop fish silage as a substitute for fish meal in aquaculture diets are also planned.
Slaughterhouse wastes, particularly fresh blood, are not being fully utilized as a feed resource. The country's well regulated abattoir are suited for collection of such wastes in sufficient quantities to make their use in aquaculture feasible.
The food processing industry is potentially an important, yet inexpensive source of feed raw materials. Canneries, breweries and distilleries produce an assortment of protein-rich waste products that have high feed value for livestock and fish. A leading soya product factory questioned on the subject indicated regular production of large quantities of such material from sauce manufacture, which awaits users. A major brewery likewise indicated availability of spent solids from the fermentation process that can be used as feed for fish. Sludge from the country's massive palm oil industry is presently discarded and represents a major industrial pollutant. This sludge has high nutrient value and can be developed into a major raw material for compound feed manufacture.
Although an Animal Feeds Act regulating the manufacture and sale of compounded animal feeds has been in force for almost two decades, there is still no regulation of feed raw materials. Quality standards of feedstuffs vary with individual ingredients, their production methods and sources. Because the bulk of ingredients imported are for meeting the demand of a rather sophisticated feed milling industry, quality is generally good. Prices are fairly consistent with product quality and, for some items, pegged to those quality specifications most likely to vary, e.g. moisture levels for maize, and crude protein levels for fish meal. The larger feedmills maintain quality control laboratories to check on raw material quality and to monitor feed manufacturing processes. Involvement by the larger mills in commodity trading also helps in maintaining quality of feed ingredients.
The needs of aquaculture for feed ingredients will not have a noticeable impact on their availability for other uses in the foreseeable future.
It is estimated that 10 million t of animal feed and fodder will be consumed by all livestock in Mexico in the current year. Of this figure about one half, or 5 million t, will be made up of feed grains, oil seed cakes, grain milling by-products and animal byproducts, including fish meal.
Until early 1970, Mexico had been a net grain exporter. In recent years it has relied heavily on imports to supplement domestic production of basic grains. An estimated 4 to 5 million t of basic grains are now being imported. Of this quantity, two-thirds are cereal grains. The main items of importation are soyabeans, sorghum and maize. Maize is imported mainly for human consumption, whereas sorghum is imported primarily to meet consumption needs of a greatly increased livestock population. Soyabeans, imported for crushing and extraction to provide edible oils for human consumption, are also the principle protein source, after oil extraction, for animal food production. Whole soyabeans are also being used for this purpose by mills equipped with facilities to process them directly to feed. Other protein-rich feed raw materials that are produced domestically in fairly large quantities are: cottonseed meal, sesame seed meal and fish meal 1/. Sunflower seed meal and safflower seed meal are also available in smaller quantities. Other available feedstuffs are: wheat bran, wheat middlings, rice bran, copra meal, alfalfa meal and brewery by-products. Spirullina, a blue green alga, now produced in Lake Texcocco at the rate of 5 t per day, is used also as a feed for livestock 2/.
1/ The following information on production of selected grains and fish meal was provided by DEPES ('000 tonnes):
|
|
Wheat |
Maize |
Sorghum |
Soyabeans |
Fish meal |
|
1975 |
2 799 |
8 449 |
4 126 |
599 |
- |
|
1976 |
3 364 |
8 017 |
4 027 |
302 |
- |
|
1977 |
2 454 |
10 023 |
4 070 |
507 |
45 |
|
1978 |
2 643 |
10 909 |
4 185 |
334 |
54 |
|
1979 |
2 272 |
8 752 |
3 708 |
719 |
69 |
2/ See Section 2, single celled proteins, SCP
Through its agency CONASUPO 3/, the Government influences national agricultural production. Guaranteed minimum prices for farmers cover maize, wheat, beans, rice, sorghum, soyabeans, sesame, cotton and other oil seeds. A joint CONASUPO-Commerce Ministry Committee sets prices before each crop cycle, taking into account estimated production costs, demand and prevailing market prices. Such guaranteed prices are intended to stimulate production of basic crops and since they are set above prevailing market prices, provide incentives for farmers to sell to CONASUPO. Considering the fact that CONASUPO also handles all grain imports into the country. Government influence on prices and supply of feed commodities is strongly felt by farmers and feed millers alike. Government involvement through CONASUPO is aimed at achieving national security in basic foodstuffs, as spelled out under SAM 4/, by increasing agricultural production and productivity. This policy is underscored by the fact that ALBAMEX, the feed milling arm of CONASUPO, is able to obtain feed raw materials more readily, while not necessarily required to make a profit in its operations.
3/ Compañía Nacional de Subsistencia Popular4/ Sistema Alimentario Mexicano
Government involvement in commodity markets has other beneficial effects. Together with influence from a relatively sophisticated feed industry. Government control of trading of the major feed ingredients helps maintain consistency in quality of these materials.
Feed raw material demand is continuing to grow at a high rate due to continued growth of the feed milling industry. With realization of the Government's plan to dramatically raise aquaculture production, the shortfall in feed ingredient supplies will be increased substantially, especially with respect to protein-rich feedstuffs, since fish diets contain on an average 50 percent more protein than diets for conventional livestock. To meet increasing needs for feedstuffs, current national production will have to be increased and alternative sources exploited. Although the country has a large domestic livestock industry, there is little evidence of exploitation of abattoir wastes as feed raw materials. This resource merits the attention of both the authorities and the feed milling industry. The perennial shrub, mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) grows wild in the northern part of the country and is exploited by village farms for its foliage and seed pods as scratch feed for pigs and cattle. The fleshy pods of the plant, while sugary and pulpy, are highly fibrous. The seed is encased in a very hard shell which requires removal before the seed can be used as feed for non-ruminant animals or fish. The syrupy texture of the pod matrix also makes grinding difficult and may be the reason why this material has not been developed for use by mills. Nevertheless, better utilization of this potentially immense feed resource will have a beneficial effect in easing the shortages of ingredients that have equivalent feed value, such as wheat bran.
Nepal's annual estimated production of 2 million t of rice yields almost 100 000 t of rice bran and polishings, and the milling of a part of its 400 000 t of wheat production for flour contributes substantial quantities of bran and pollard to the overall feed supply. Maize is also grown in the plains of the Terai region and this is sometimes used for feed. Meat production is low and is reflected in the very small feed manufacturing industry that caters primarily to poultry farmers.
The country has no traditional source of animal protein supplements. Fish meal and meat meal have to be imported to meet the requirements of the small feed manufacturing industry. Imports are supplemented by some local production of oil seed cakes, although these too are not sufficient and moderate quantities of groundnut oilcakes have to be imported from India. From time to time there are small quantities of damaged dairy products such as cheese and milk powder available.
Feed resources in Nigeria have seen a decline due to stagnant or dimishing output of certain traditional crops. Recent statistics show that the country increasingly relies on imports to meet the needs of an expanding livestock industry.
Root crops constitute the main staple in the Nigerian diet and these are grown primarily for human consumption. Other major crops are sorghum, millet, rice, maize, groundnut, sesame and oil palm. Millet and sorghum are sometimes fed to livestock. Approximately 4 million t of sorghum and 3.0 million t of millet are produced annually. This is followed by maize, with an estimated yearly production of 1.5 million t. About 150 000 t of sorghum and maize are used in compound feed manufacture. The fourth cereal is rice. It is estimated that only 1 million t of rice are produced annually. This yields less than 150 000 t of bran and polishings. A small quantity of wheat bran is available from imported wheat milled into flour.
From an annual groundnut crop of 620 000 t, more than 380 000 t of oilcake can be made available if all the seeds are crushed for oil. This is not likely, however, because groundnuts serve as a food item, as well as an item for export. Nigeria has also been a traditional exporter of groundnut oilcake, and despite lower production in recent years and local shortages, some of this production still finds its way out of the country. The milling of 350 000 t of African palm kernels yields 200 000 t of oilcakes. This commodity, however, has low feed value for non-ruminant animals. A small quantity of oilcakes, about 40 000 t, can also be obtained from crushing of the annual harvest of sesame seeds.
The country has begun fish meal production on a small scale but the bulk of the feed industry's requirement has to be imported. Also imported are: soyabean meal, meat meal, and occasionally even groundnut cakes.
Nigeria has the potential for expanding its feed resource base. A big increase in crop production is also believed to be possible. Animal blood and offal from slaughterhouses can be a significant source of animal protein supplements. Fish meal production can also be greatly expanded because of the relatively low cost of fuel. Another possibility is the large-scale production of single cell protein from petroleum or natural gas, both of which Nigeria has large reserves.
The Philippines depend very heavily on imports to meet local demand for feed raw materials. The country's feed resource is based primarily on rice and coconut from which rice bran and coconut oilcakes respectively, are obtained. Considerable quantities of maize and tapioca are also cultivated, but these are primarily for human consumption, although the wet milling of maize for oil and starch recovery produces by-products that are fed to livestock. Quantities of wastes are also available from the industrial conversion of maize to beer and spirits.
Rice bran is the most important feedstuff of indigenous origin. Although only 0.75 million t are available annually compared with 1.25 million t of coconut oilcakes, the higher feed value of rice bran places the latter ahead of coconut oilcakes in importance. Furthermore, almost half of the copra, from which oilcakes are obtained after oil extraction, are exported (511 500 t in 1978).
The country also produces between 12 000 to 15 000 t of fish meal annually, but this only represents a fifth of the total demand for that item. In 1978, an estimated 20 000 t of fish meal had to be imported.
Supplies of protein wastes derived from the country's conventional livestock industry are very limited because blood and offal of farm animals are relished as food items in the Philippines. There are also few poultry processing plants from which rendered poultry waste can be obtained. Use of ipil ipil leaf meal is limited by an anti-nutritive factor (mimosine) present in the plant. Prospects for developing fish silage are hampered by lack of excess trash fish for that purpose, and because of competitive production of fish paste and fish sauce for human consumption. Although production of conventional livestock has risen steadily over the years, the major constraint is the adequate supply of feeds. In order to sustain the relatively modern feed manufacturing industry, large quantities of protein supplements have to be imported annually. In 1977 these included: soyabean meal, 95 600 t; other oil seed meal, 4 000 t; fish meal, 12 000 t; and meat meal, 57 400 t.
The country's aquaculture industry is based mainly on milkfish culture which involves minimal inputs of feedstuffs. The size of the shrimp culture industry at present is too small to significantly affect feeds supply. However, future expansion of this and other intensive culture systems may face problems in obtaining adequate supplies of feeds.
The supply of feeds poses a major constraint for animal production in Sri Lanka. The principal grain crop is rice from which an annual yield of about 2 million t are obtained. From this, somewhat less than 200 000 t of bran and polishings are available. The principal cash crop that contributes to the country's feed resource is the coconut. From an estimated annual production of 160 000 t of copra, 100 000 t of coconut oilcakes are obtainable. Together, rice bran and coconut oilcake represent more than 80 percent of total feed resources in the country. Other indigenously produced feed materials, available in moderate quantities are: wheat bran and flour mill sweepings (obtained from the milling of imported wheat), fish meal, maize meal, shrimp waste, rubber seed meal, and brewer's yeast. Tapioca, although cultivated extensively in the country, is mainly for human consumption. Blood meal, which is available primarily from the main Government slaughterhouse in Colombo, is sold on tender to feed manufacturers.
Because of the severe shortage of feedstuffs of high protein content, fish meal, meat meal and soyabean meal are imported to meet the requirements of compound feed manufacture. Prospects for increasing the feed resource base are restricted by present emphasis on cultivation of export-oriented cash crops such as rubber, tea and coffee, and the absence of a strong feed manufacturing industry.
Present efforts in developing compound diets for carp culture based on available feed ingredients will not be helped by the already tight supply situation.
The country produces a large surplus of feed grains such as maize and sorghum. Domestic consumption of these feed materials is almost exclusively by the livestock and feed milling industries. Maize and sorghum have not been used for direct feeding to fish but probably constitute a significant percentage in commercially produced floating-type pelleted feed for catfish. Broken rice, as well as cargo rice, on the other hand, are used extensively by fish farmers engaged in traditional feeding methods. The choice of feed grain usage, apart from traditional preference, may be due to processing difficulties with maize, which needs to be pulverized before it can be heat processed to make water stable fish feed. Broken rice, on average, costs more than maize or sorghum, despite its year-round availability.
By-products from the grain milling and oil seed extraction industries constitute the second largest feed resource in the country.
Rice bran is the principal by-product of the milling industry and is also available year round. It is the second most important ingredient for feeding to catfish in the country. Two varieties of rice bran are available. They are raw rice bran, and solvent-extracted rice bran. Raw rice bran is preferred by catfish farmers for two important reasons: unlike solvent-extracted rice bran, which is only available in larger cities, it is available from small village mills or feed stores; and, the misguided belief that oil extracted rice bran is inferior to raw rice bran due to the loss of fat in the former.
By-products from the oil seed extraction industry are, next to fish meal, the most important protein resource for the feed industry. They include (in order of prominence): soyabean meal, cottonseed meal, peanut meal and sesame meal. Except for commercial manufacture of compound feeds, their use for fish feeding by traditional methods has not been reported.
Fish meal represents the most important feed resource in the country. It also represents more than half the total value of all animal feedstuff exports. In 1980 it was estimated that 1.2 million t of marine fish catch were reduced to fish meal. Of the 300 000 t fish meal produced, one-third was exported. Ironically, fish meal consumption by the aquaculture industry is insignificant. Instead, raw trash fish is used. There is no estimate of trash fish usage for aquaculture in the country. From the best estimates of annual catfish production of 50 000 t from ponds, about 250 000 t of trash fish are used yearly for that purpose alone.
Other feedstuffs available are: tapioca meal, molasses, leaf meal, brewery byproducts, shrimp waste and meat meal. With the expansion of the poultry processing industry, increasing quantities of chicken offal are also becoming available. Practically all of this is sold unprocessed for use in pig farms and, more recently, for snakehead culture.
Thailand's feed resource base is expanding with increasing industrialization of poultry and meat processing for production of more marketable products both for export and for local consumption.
Annual production of poultry offal from the country's half dozen poultry processing plants is still too small (estimated to be less than 20 t per day of raw offal plus feathers) to sustain an economically viable rendering plant. At present, the offal is sold to fish and pig farmers who feed it to the animals raw or after cooking. There is also no modern animal rendering plant for pig or cattle offal in the country despite the large animal, primarily pig, population. The country's resource of legume forage plants is not fully exploited. Only kathin is cultivated on a commercial scale for leaf meal production.
The feed supply situation in Thailand, therefore, remains good for the immediate future, and can be expanded as new resources are tapped.
The country imports most of the raw materials used for animal feed manufacture. The two major items imported are maize and soybean meal. These imports are supplemented by domestically produced cottonseed meal, barley and wheat by-products, particularly wheat bran which appear to be available in considerable quantities at relatively low price (40 T. Din. per tonne). There are few other feedstuffs in use. Due to problems relating to the use of locally produced fish meal, soybean meal is the principal protein supplement used for compound feed manufacture. Imported synthetic amino acids, particularly methionine, are used to provide the desired level of protein quality in the formulated feeds.
During the past five years, the compound feed industry had been expanding rapidly. Apart from by-products from the flour mills, the country has exploited few other raw material resources to support this expansion. Therefore, the industry has to rely on imports of both feed grains (mainly maize) and vegetable protein supplements (mainly soybean meal). These imports are heavily subsidized by the Government in an effort to rapidly build up the livestock industry. The subsidy for soybean meal in 1982 was 60 millims per kg against an import price of 180 millims. The cost of soybean meal to the feed milling industry was only 120 dinars per tonne compared to 180 dinars for locally produced fish meal. Although not considered excessively expensive by comparison, provided the fish meal is of the same grade as Peruvian fish meal (65 percent protein minimum), the local product is of considerably lower quality. The best quality product was said to contain not more than 52 percent protein, making it more expensive to use than soybean meal. Another problem relating to quality had been contamination of the product by salmonella bacteria.
Since 1981, only a small fraction of domestically produced fish meal was used for industrial feed production, an estimated 1 000 tonnes of unsold fish meal having accumulated in the warehouses by mid-1982. The principal foreign buyer had also temporarily stopped its purchases because of the relatively high price of this low grade product compared with products from other sources.
The collapse of the fish meal manufacturing industry may, therefore, be laid to two factors: (a) Government subsidy of soybean meal imports and (b) lack of quality standardization of the product. If locally produced fish meal were competitive with soybean meal, annual requirements are 6 000 tonnes, according to Government estimates.
Despite the present lack of demand, fish meal will continue to be produced in limited quantities at the Government tuna and sardine canneries. The supply of trash fish, however, will probably continue to decline. What is presently landed is purchased for on-farm preparation of feeds and for human consumption.
There are substantial resources of alternative feed raw materials. Chief among these are slaughterhouse wastes and residues from the massive olive oil extraction industry. There are at present no animal rendering houses to process carcasses of dead farm animals and wastes from abattoirs into meat meal and blood meal. The poultry industry has also grown significantly in recent years. An estimated 50 000 tonnes of chicken are produced yearly from which a good quantity of feather meal can be produced.
The olive oil extraction industry is the biggest export-oriented agricultural industry in the country. About 500 000 tonnes of fruit are pressed for oil annually. The present process involves crushing the entire fruit, seed and all, before oil extraction. The residue, therefore, contains considerable fibrous material which cannot be utilized by monogastric animals, fish included. The crushed shell of the seed apparently provides the abrasive action needed to release oil tightly held in the fibrous matrix of the pulp. A plan is underway to build a pilot plant for separation of shells from the pulp after oil extraction. This will be a costly process but will help reduce considerably (at least 50 000 tonnes of pulp) the country's dependence on imports of feed grains especially as the latter are presently used in ruminant feeds.
The country brews about 35 000 tonnes of beer annually. Waste solids recoverable from the breweries will amount to more than 1 000 tonnes, most of which can be used as raw material for animal or fish feed.
Venezuela's domestic production of feedstuffs is not sufficient to meet demand. The country's major crops are: cane, bananas, maize, yuca, rice and potatoes. Of these, only cane, maize and rice contribute substantially to the overall feed resources available. Although grown primarily for human consumption, maize is also used in fairly large amounts by the feed manufacturing industry. Local production, which falls far short of demand, is supplemented by large imports. Rice production is estimated at 650 000 t, from which about 80 000 t of rice bran and polishings are available. Wheat is imported for flour production in local mills with substantial by-products such as wheat bran and middlings made available as feeds. Other indigenous feedstuffs available are fairly large quantities of molasses from a large annual crop of cane, and small quantities of sesame oilcake, coconut oilcake, cottonseed meal and by-products from breweries and distilleries.
Animal protein feed supplements are made available as a result of large local production and consumption of livestock. Animal rendering houses contribute substantially to this supply. Their products include meat meal, blood meal and poultry by-product meal. Although some fish meal is also produced locally, it falls far short of demand of the feed manufacturing industry which is a fairly large one. Consequently, large quantities of this item are imported. Imported in even larger quantities is soybean meal.
Trade in feed ingredients falls under stringent Government control by the farm marketing agency CORPOMERCADEO (CMA). Through this agency, prices and supplies to the principal consumers, the feed mills, are regulated.
The feed resource base of Venezuela has good potential for expansion through increased crop output and continued expansion of the livestock industry (which leads to greater output of feedstuffs such as meat meal). Unconventional sources such as forage legumes, which are not presently exploited, also add to this resource. Economic production of single-cell protein (SCP) as feed depends on the prices of petroleum and natural gas available for such production.
Prices of feed ingredients are in most cases determined by supplies. In countries where trading of such commodities is highly localized, prices for a particular ingredient can vary considerably from one part of the country to another. This variation is also expected to be greater in those countries where demand by the feed industry constitutes only a very small percentage of total consumption. Thus, feed ingredient prices are generally more uniform on a nation-wide basis in countries such as Venezuela and Thailand than in countries such as India and Nigeria.
Other factors also influence prices, as for example official regulation of commodity markets through Government import controls and price support through subsidies or direct Government purchases.
Table 3 gives the prices of selected ingredients in 10 of the 12 countries covered in the survey. Prices are for the year indicated and were obtained from responsible members in the feed milling industry or by direct enquiry at feed stores in those countries. Prices are in both local currencies and in US dollars (in parenthesis) at rates applied at the time when the information was obtained 1/.
1/ Currency Equivalents applied in Table 3
|
Country |
Currency Unit |
US$ Equivalent |
|
Egypt |
Egyptian pound, L.E. |
1.430 |
|
India |
Indian rupee, I. Rs. |
0.125 |
|
Malaysia |
Malaysian dollar, M.$ |
0.435 |
|
Mexico |
Mexican peso, Mex.$ |
0.040 |
|
Nepal |
Nepalese rupee, N.Rs. |
0.105 |
|
Nigeria |
Naira |
1.785 |
|
Sri Lanka |
Sri Lanka rupee, Cey. Rs. |
0.080 |
|
Thailand |
Baht |
0.043 |
|
Tunisia |
Tunisian Dinar, T. Din. |
1.80 |
|
Venezuela |
Bolivar, V. Bs. |
0.238 |
Table 3 Feed Ingredient Prices in Ten Developing Countries
