Bangladesh has been self-sufficient in terms of animal feed production, however raw materials for this industry such as maize and soybean meal are still being imported, resulting in an increase in feed prices.
In the foreign markets, maize and soybean meal have become expensive. In addition to that, the prices of all kinds of feed raw materials have increased by nearly 40 per cent, creating a crisis in the feed industry.
Production and retail levels have seen a feed price increase, which might lead to a crisis in poultry, fisheries and cattle industries.
Soybean meal and maize together amount to 75 per cent of animal feed production, which included 50 per cent maize and 25 to 30 per cent soybean meal. The remainder of the 20 to 25 per cent includes other ingredients.
Maize is a major component of animal feed. 50 per cent of maize is locally produced and the rest is imported.
As maize cultivation increased in the country over the past few years, industry people said import dependency was falling.
The local demand for maize as annual feed is 70 lakh tonnes. Based on the Department of Agricultural Extension, 56 lakh tonnes of maize were produced in the 2020-21 fiscal year. This was around 27.9 lakh tonnes in the 2015-16 fiscal year.
Soybean is not produced in Bangladesh, however, after the production of oil from soybean seeds imported by oil-producing companies, soybean meal comes as a by-product.
This meets 55 to 60 per cent of the local feed industry demand which is around 18 to 20 lakh tonnes yearly. The remaining 40 to 45 per cent is imported from India, America, Brazil, and Argentina.
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