Dr Debojyoti Borkotoky
Pork is undoubtly the most preferred meat of the inhabitants of north eastern (NE) region of India. The NE region constitutes more than 1/3 of the nation’s swine population. Still then, the local supplies are inadequate and there is huge inflow of meat and meat animals from other states. There exit a potential scope to explore this animal. With the fast expanding market and growing demand for meat and meat products, the enterprise heralds a window of opportunities for the livestock farmers of the region. In the entrepreneurial perspective, the region holds certain definite advantages compared to Indian mainland.
Huge demand and a ready market: In spite of big potential because of large meat consuming population, the meat industry in Nagaland has not taken its due share. Time gap between slaughter and the sale is very short. Therefore deterioration of the quality of the meat is less and early monitory return is ensured.
Best meat-producing animals: It has a number of biological advantages over other meat producing animals owing to high prolificacy, faster growth rate, higher feed conversion efficiency, shorter generation interval and higher dressing percentage.
No social and cultural taboo against pork: A festival, marriage or any ceremony is incomplete without an item of meat in the menu. It is also an item of gift to the guest and relative in any celebrations. Having no religious and social taboo on eating any kinds of meat, a wide array of traditional culinary dishes are enjoyed by the people of the region. Each tribe has unique recipes of meat with a distinctive taste. Forefathers of the land had learnt various ways to preserve and process meat like smoking and fermenting
Traditional Practice of rearing backyard pigs: The North Eastern Hill Region in particular offers ample scope for piggery development because the rural population of this region is traditionally dependent on pig and pork. The practice of backyard pig rearing exists since time immemorial. The practice therefore, only necessitate up gradation with scientific and a commercial outlook. A steady transition from traditional backyard piggery to commercial enterprise shall enhance pig production, productivity, management and marketing prospects.
Gainful Employment Avenue: Large-scale pig husbandry shall not only meet the ever-increasing demand of meat but shall a way of solving unemployment problem. With the increasing population, recurrent floods, droughts and other natural calamities due to climate change has been creating great threat to the agriculture sector. Therefore, piggery can certainly provide an alternative means to the farmers of Nagaland. The realization on the cost of skin, bristles, hoof, teeth, blood and other by-products has not been exploited yet.
The return from piggery enterprise is exceptionally high. It is said that when a pig is slaughtered, everything of it can be utilized except the last squeal ‘Oink’. This single species hold numerous avenues of earning. Enlisted are a few of the options available:
Mostly pigs are slaughtered in unregistered slaughter houses in small numbers ranging from 2 –5 by the individual butcher. The pork is sold fresh on the same day. State-of-the-art abattoirs are the need of the hour considering the human health hazard and to optimize profitability. There will also be great change with the establishment of the feedlots as a backward integration to the processing plants.
A strong need has been felt to establish sufficient pig breeder farms to produce quality disease-free animals. Unemployed youth and young entrepreneurs can take up pig breeding as full time enterprise. This will reduce the dependency on other states to cater the demand of quality piglets. Furthermore it will provide employment opportunities for many.
A wide variety of pork products such as pork sausages, pork kofta, pork loaves, salami, samosa, momo, petties, pickle etc are in great demand. Outlets and mobile Kiosks with grab-and-go pork products can be a lucrative business option in the town and cities.
Haemoglobin from pigs blood is used in some cigarette filters to create an ‘artificial lungs’ to protect the smokers. Fish food also uses pork meal and haemoglobin powder. Apart from these, pig blood finds its application in medicines, sticking agent, leather treating agent, plywood adhesive, blood meal (protein source), fabric painting and dying.
In Ice-cream production, the gelatin derived from pig is used to regulate the crystallization and slows down the melting process. The gelatin is also used to offer texture to low fat butter. In brewery industry, pig gelatin is used to remove the cloudiness from beer and wines. It works as a clarifying agent by reacting with the tannins in the liquid and absorbing the cloudiness. Whipped creams, Cream cheese and sweets also contain gelatin. Some bread manufacturers use an ingredient called L-cysteine, which is a protein made from pig or other animal hair and which is used to soften the dough
On boiling of pork bone fat at high temperature, it is used in soap as hardening agent. Fatty acids also give shampoo and conditioner a ‘shiny pearl like’ appearance. It is also used in moisturizer production. These acids can also be found in a number of body lotions, foundations and anti-wrinkle creams. Glycerine made from pork fat is also an ingredient in many types of toothpaste.
In order to make candles last longer, pork bone fat is added. The fatty acid from pig bone fat makes crayons hard.
In paints, the fatty acid from pig increases the gloss properties. Pig hair can be utilized in manufacture of paint brush.
Low value by-products such as hoofs, fat, blood, tail, tongue etc. can be utilized for maximum benefit. In the recent years, the demand for pet food is gaining ground. The international market has large demand of pet foods. The slaughter houses produce large quantities of raw material for pet food, which can be commercially exploited.
More interestingly, a number of medicines also contain pig gelatin - from analgesic to multivitamins. Gelatin is used is Capsule pills to give its hardness. Heparin a drug used to prevent clotting of blood can be derived from of the pig intestine. Insulin can be derived from pig intestine as its chemical structure resembles to human. Pig heart valves are also utilized in treating heart ailments and in cardiac research.
Shoes that use bone glue from pigs to improve the quality of the leather. Bone ash is also used in production of Fine bone china. Inkjet papers used bone gelatin to provide stiffness and exact amount of absorbency. The bottle cork in made from granulated cork glue with porcine bone gelatin.
Practically everything in a pig can be processed and used. A slaughter house generate a wide range of by-products suitable for further processing. Prospective entrepreneurs can approach Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), District and Block Level Veterinary Offices, farmer oriented NGOs and other related Institutes for detail technical information. Commercial Pig production is certainly a lucrative venture when approached with a scientific outlook and entrepreneurial attitude.
