Slaughter of buffaloes down post beef ban

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Figures from various slaughterhouses in the state show that 1,80,895 buffaloes were slaughtered from January to March. This is the first financial quarter when the state saw a decrease in buffalo slaughter after a continuous increase in the previous four quarters. In the five months from April to August, 1,70,484 buffaloes were slaughtered. As for bovine animals other than buffaloes slaughtered between January and March, the number was 53,263 and came down to zero after the ban.

There was also a decrease in number of animals (goats, buffaloes) slaughtered for Eid-ul-Zuha. From around 34,000 animals sacrificed last year, the number came down to around 13,300 this year. During the initial days of the ban, the consensus among policymakers was that post the ban, slaughter of buffalo and consumption of buffalo meat would grow. Officers associated with the state animal husbandry department said the decrease needs to be studied properly.

Swabhimani Paksha MP Raju Shetti said it was a fallout of continuous drought and the low price of buffalo milk in the state. “Buffaloes require twice as much fodder as cows but farmers have not been able to realise input costs over the last few years. Even before the ban, farmers had started selling buffaloes as it was not financially remunerative. The present drop indicates most farmers who had excess animals might have sold them,” he said.

Arif Chaudhary, president of the All India Jamaat-Ul-Querishi, an organisation of traders of the community, said that number of buffaloes slaughtered going down points to market dynamics. “In Maharashtra, buffalo meat is not relished. Traders do not want to go for more sale and thus the slaughter had gone down,” he said. Of the 10,000 shops in the trade, around 50 per cent had closed down especially in Marathwada and Vidarbha, Chaudhary said. “The ban made its ripples felt in the leather, bone and tailoring industry also.”