StatsGuru: 12-May-2014

Making sense of India's appetite for protein-rich foodstuff

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As India grows, its appetite for protein-rich foods has increased dramatically. And, so have prices. As Table 1 shows, the prices of milk, eggs and meat (beef) have almost doubled in the past five years. Prices of poultry products have increased by almost 50 per cent. A similar pattern is visible in Table 2 for most pulses - for some reason, only Bengal gram (chana) has really resisted upward pressure.

This is in spite of the fact that production of most protein-rich foodstuff has increased sharply. As Table 3 shows, inland pisciculture has, over the past few years, vastly increased the amount of fish available. Table 4 demonstrates that, for pulses, while the area under cultivation has increased only marginally, it is a sharp rise in yield that has driven production up. Table 5 shows that nearly two times as many eggs are expected to be produced in India as were at the beginning of the 2000s; milk, too, has seen a rise in production, if less dramatic.

It seems some of what is being produced is being sent abroad. As Table 6 shows, dairy, meat and poultry exports have increased several-fold in value. Imports of milk and cream are dwarfed in comparison. But Table 7 makes obvious that imports of pulses are crucial to meeting demand domestically.