Domestic demand for soybean meal hit due to bird flu scare

The demand for soybean meal in the animal and bird feed industry has dropped due to the avian flu outbreak reported in different parts of the country, an official said here on Wednesday.

The demand for domestic consumption of the protein- rich feed is likely to reduce by one lakh tonne in January, the official said.

"Industries producing animal feed in the country had procured 5.5 lakh tonne of soybean meal in December 2020. We were expecting the same amount of procurement in January too, but after bird flu, the demand has reduced," said Davish Jain, chairman of Indore-based Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA).

In the current scenario, the consumption of soybean meal in the domestic industry will be around 4.5 lakh tonne, the official said.

However, there is hope that the drop in domestic consumption will be compensated with exports, as the demand in international market has increased, he said.

Maximum consumption of chicken feed made from soybean meal is in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, which are home to a large number of poultry farms, Jain said.

The leftover product after extracting soyabean oil is called soyabean meal, which is a major source of protein.

Apart from birds and animal feed, it is also used for making food products like soy flour and soy badi.