With the Indian broiler industry growing annually at an approximate rate of 10 to 12 percent and utilizing 65 percent of the country’s total soymeal in animal feeds, a demand for soymeal continues to develop in India.  USSEC India’s Feed/Meal Program continuously cultivates strategies and creates new approaches to ensure that the broiler industry is using soy-optimized or soy-maximized diets.
One such example is the creation of backward integration, which enabled the broiler industry to produce and use about 1.0 million tons (MT) of its own annual soymeal requirements. This accounts for 36 percent of the 2.74 MT of soymeal used by the broiler industry annually.  Tactically, USSEC uses the Indian broiler industry to build more demand to strategically shape India’s market development.
In an effort to sustain soymeal utilization in broiler feeds, USSEC India enlisted the help of USSEC consultant Jan van Eys to update the Indian broiler industry about global developments.  The feed technology workshop, “Know Your Soy Better,” was conducted in the central Indian city of Pune on January 7 to target all leading broiler entrepreneurs from north and central India.  About 62 participants directly connected to 2.6 MT of annual feed marketing and 0.62 MT of soy utilization took part in the discussions.

Dr. van Eys dealt with various subjects relating to soy in broiler feeds, demonstrated a few formulations and differentiated types of soymeal (including U.S meal) to demonstrate that soymeal is still the best bet for broiler nutrition.  This event helped the industry to refresh its knowledge on formulations and soy’s role in broiler nutrition and performance. Participants acknowledged that between 24 and 31 percent of soy meal inclusion is optimal in their formulations for deriving efficiencies.  Attendees on the lower soy inclusion mark considered increasing their inclusions.  Because the workshop had a trade service angle, USSEC’s feed/meal team brought in soy crushers and traders to the event to expose them to the high tech nutritional aspects, meal quality and supply expectations of the broiler industry.  There were interesting debates between the industry and crushers; all channeled towards better product delivery, optimum price and sustained supply. Incidentally, the broiler industry consumes 36 percent of the total soy meal produced in the country.  This event made it clear to planners that more high quality meal and higher demand is forthcoming for soymeal in India.