Cheaper US feed, fatter margins: Dairy association chief backs DDGS deal

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: India’s decision to allow imports of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) under the interim trade framework with the US will help bridge the country’s protein deficit in animal feed and offer a cost-effective alternative to conventional feed ingredients, the chief of the Indian Dairy Association (IDA) said. Affordability is a key concern for small and marginal dairy farmers, as fodder accounts for nearly 60% of the cost of milk production.

Lower import duties could translate into cheaper compound feed, directly benefiting dairy farmers by reducing input costs and improving milk profitability, IDA president Sudhir Kumar Singh said in an interview. As per the interim trade framework, India will allow duty-free import of DDGS from the US, but in limited quantities. India is the world’s largest milk producer, and its dairy industry employs around 80 million farmers.

However, the sector faces a 30% shortfall against the domestic annual animal feed requirement of 170 million tonnes, Singh added. DDGS is a by-product of ethanol production from maize, and is widely used as a high-protein, energy-rich ingredient in animal feed. The US, the world’s largest DDGS producer, mostly uses genetically modified (GM) corn for producing ethanol.

Therefore, DDGS is a GM-based animal feed used for cattle, poultry, and fisheries. The opposition Congress has slammed the government’s decision to allow DDGS imports from the US, arguing that India has not approved the use of transgenic technologies in food crops beyond GM cotton. Congress leader and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh called the move a “backdoor entry" of GM crops into the food chain.