Maize diversion for ethanol raises poultry feed, edible oil prices, sparking concerns for sugar industry, soybean farmers
India’s ethanol program has significantly increased maize use for biofuel, rising from 1 million tonnes in 2022-23 to a projected 13 million tonnes in 2024-25. This diversion has strained the poultry industry, which consumes 60% of India’s maize, raising feed costs. It has also impacted cooking oil prices and reduced profits for oilseed farmers. These trade-offs highlight the ripple effects of biofuel policies, including increased maize imports and financial challenges for the sugar industry.
Maize, diverted for ethanol production, has caused poultry feed costs to go up, impacted cooking oil prices, and reduced oilseed farmers’ profits. The ethanol program has led to consequences like increased maize imports and declining revenues for sugar industry, highlighting the complex trade-offs of biofuel policies.
Ethyl alcohol squeezed out of maize was supposed to make a dark fossil fuel slightly green— ethanol-blended petrol, the government said, would bring down dependence on crude oil imports and reduce carbon emissions. It has, however, cast a shadow on several other sectors—it has pushed up the prices of poultry feed and cooking oils and hit the wallets of consumers and the profits of oilseed farmers.
Long before policymakers decided to ferment corn to produce biofuel that can be mixed with petrol, it was chicken’s favourite food. According to industry estimates, India’s poultry sector consumes 60% of maize produced in the country, with the rest being used mostly as livestock feed and by beer and whiskey breweries and starch manufacturers.
The biggest impact of maize’s diversion for ethanol has been on the poultry industry that uses the grain as poultry feed. Dr KG Anand, general manager (south) of Venkateshwara Hatcheries, better known as Venky’s, says, “The poultry industry has started facing a severe shortage of maize as the grain’s use for ethanol has gone up from 1 million tonnes in 2022-23 (ethanol supply year runs from November to October) to 7 million tonnes in 2023-24 and is projected to grow to 13 million tonnes in 2024-25.”
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Source Link : Economic Times
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