Steady demand keeps pork sales up

On the other side of the railway crossing, there is a small building adjoining the highway. Despite being open only between 8 am and 12 noon everyday, the ‘shop’ has managed to net in sales amounting to Rs 40 lakh through pork alone in 2010.“People come from all over the city and purchase our pork in large quantities, simply because of the quality of the meat,” explains Dr Murugan, who heads the piggery at the research station. From netting about Rs 30 lakh two years ago, the first half of this year has been exceptionally promising. He aims to rake in Rs 45 lakh this year. The meat that is sold at the shop is the excess that is procured after research and educational needs are satisfied. “The pork is absolutely fresh and is easily the most cleanly packaged meat around town,” says Dr Thyagarajan. The piggery that houses about 500 pigs at any given time, works with three high-producing varieties that have been imported – Large White Yorkshire, Landarce and Duroc. “For the past three years, we have successfully managed to cross all three high yielding porkers and come up with a ‘Three-Way Synthetic’ that has low back fat thickness,” explains Dr Kumaraswamy. “This breed that we engineered is one of the highest sought by breeders in the State and elsewhere,” he adds.Though the industry for pig-meat never really became a mainstay in India, the increase in sales indicates that it is certainly picking up. Considering the fact that pork is touted to comprise 40 per cent of the meat consumed in 2025 (FAO and Dr Thomas Elam), this could be a promising sign that Indian meat consumption is moving with the times. “As long as it does not meet with the same fate as rabbit meat,” remarks Thyagarajan. He recounts how after an initial spurt of demand in the 1990s, the demand for quality rabbits as produce petered out in the State. “I guess people are concerned about eating an animal that looks cute,” he reasons. The farm is still rearing three varieties at the rabbitery – New Zealand White, White Giant and Soviet Chinchilla in the belief that when the time is right, they will be able to provide rabbit meat for the populace.