SEA asks govt to allow soyabean meal import to help poultry industry

The Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) of India has asked the government to allow the import of soyabean meal to help the domestic poultry industry.

In a letter to the members of SEA on Wednesday, Atul Chaturvedi, President of SEA of India, said the oilseed crushing and poultry sector have a symbiotic relationship and one cannot survive without the other.

Terming the rise in soyabean meal prices from around ₹36,000 a tonne in November to ₹71,000 a tonne in July as ‘crazy’, he said this is driving poultry farmers to the wall. “Whether this increase in values is due to speculative activity on the commodity exchanges or a reflection of demand-supply mismatch is only a matter of conjecture,” he said.

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To overcome this situation faced by the poultry industry and at the behest SEA members, the association has sent a memorandum to Piyush Goel, Union Minster of Commerce, and Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, suggesting they allow the import of soyabean meal, including GM soyabean meal variety, which is available in plenty in the world market at less than half price.