Despite row, India 3rd largest beef exporter

NEW DELHI: India, whose image has been marred by the recent cases of lynching by gau rakashaks and the furore over ban on cow slaughter, remains the world’s third biggest exporter of beef, official reports said.
The country is projected to hold on to that position in the next decade, according to a report released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OECD).
The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2017-2026 report released here this week said India exported 1.56 million tonnes of beef last year and was expected to maintain “its position as the third largest beef exporter, accounting for 16 per cent of global exports in 2026” by exporting 1.93 tonnes that year.
The type of beef exported was not specified but the meat exported appeared to be mostly from buffaloes as the report specified the animal for imports by Myanmar from India.
In beef eating states like Kerala, such meat is locally called as buff.
According to the OECD database, India imported 363,000 tonnes of beef last year and the amount was projected to stay the same over the decade.
The total world beef exports in 2016 were 10.95 million tonnes and were expected to increase to 12.43 million tonnes by 2026, according to the FAO.