Broken rice and maize are the main components of poultry feed. The industry fears that the prices of maize and broken rice would spike in the coming months as the diversion of these two raw materials for ethanol is expected to increase after the ban on use of sugarcane juice for ethanol.
“We are going to write to the central government requesting to reduce the import duty on maize and soyabean,” said Suresh Deora, chairman, Compound Feed Manufacturers’ Association (CLFMA) of India.
“The crop of soyabean had been damaged by about 30% in Maharashtra. As the government plans to promote use of maize for ethanol, the poultry industry can face challenges in getting maize for feed,” he said.
Rajesh Jain Paharia, a trader of rice, said, “The prices of broken rice have increased by 18% in the last six months from Rs 22/kg in June to Rs 26/kg at present.”
There has been an increase in demand for broken rice during the past six months.”The grain-based distilleries, which were under construction during last year, will be commencing production from January. We are getting many inquiries for supply of broken rice,” said Paharia.Both the poultry and ethanol industries have been growing rapidly, while there is not any significant increase in the production of maize in the last 5 years.
