Iran’s red meat consumption has declined by 40% after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which has inflicted losses on the country’s nomads whose livelihood largely depends on animal husbandry, says the caretaker of Nomadic Affairs Organization affiliated with the Agriculture Ministry.
“Limitations on social events and gatherings due to the pandemic have resulted in the cancellation of weddings, funerals and religious ceremonies. Most restaurants are either closed or have very few customers and delivery requests, which has in turn reduced red meat consumption,” Shahpour Alaei-Moqaddam was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
The official noted that under the circumstances, nomadic tribes are facing an oversupply of livestock.
Mansour Pourian, the head of Iran’s Livestock Exporters National Assembly, told Tasnim News Agency in April that restaurants, hotels and ceremony halls have the biggest share in red meat consumption.
In June, Karamali Qandali, the former head of Nomadic Affairs Organization, said red meat production by nomads in Iran is estimated to increase by 15-20% in the current Iranian year (March 2020-21), compared with last year amid high precipitation that led to the bountiful growth of grass in pastures.
“At present, nomads own more than 9.5 million head of livestock and produce 190,000 tons of red meat per year, which meet 25% of domestic demand,” he said.
There are 213,000 nomadic households in Iran, which account for 1.2 million of Iran’s total population.
Nomadic production of red meat accounts for about a quarter of Iran’s total output.
55% Rise in Production
The Statistical Center of Iran's latest report shows 39,600 tons of red meat were produced in Iran during the month ending Oct. 21 to register a 55% rise compared with the similar month of last year.
Meat output witnessed a 1% month-on-month decline.
Beef accounted for 22,400 tons or 57% of the overall production, indicating a year-on-year increase of 61%.
Moreover, 13,500 tons of lamb (up 53% YOY), 2,900 tons of goat meat (up 38% YOY) and 794 tons of meat from other types of livestock were produced during the one-month period, accounting for 34%, 7% and 2% of the total output respectively, SCI reported on its website.
Iran’s red meat production is projected to rise by 2-3% by the end of the current fiscal year (March 2021), bringing the country closer to self-sufficiency, deputy agriculture minister for livestock affairs has said.
“Iran’s red meat production stood at 859,000 tons last [fiscal] year [ended March 19, 2020]. The output is expected to hit 880,000 tons by the yearend,” Morteza Rezaei was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
According to the official, heavy livestock constituted 60% of the country’s red meat production last year.
Up to 160,000 tons of red meat is annually imported, he said, underlining that measures are underway to cut import dependency and boost production capacity.
To this end, 158 projects in developing livestock and poultry breeding sectors will be implemented by the Iranian yearend, which will also help create 16,000 jobs.
Furthermore, efforts will go into expanding the existing capacities and controlling the waste of feed in livestock breeding farms.
Massive Surplus
The excessive production of livestock over the past months and a significant decline in red meat consumption due to the coronavirus pandemic have led to a massive surplus in the cattle farming sector, the head of Iran’s Livestock Exporters National Assembly said recently.
Latest statistics show the domestic market normally needs around 60 million head of light livestock per year, but currently, it is in excess of 12 million,” Pourian was also quoted as saying by IRNA on Sunday.
This has put farmers under immense pressure, making them face a wide range of challenges, including excessive costs, shortage of feed and aging of cattle, he added.
The government banned the export of livestock in the last Iranian year to help increase supply in the domestic market. However, excessive imports amid a hike in domestic production as well as the huge fall in consumption created the current problem at hand.
Calling on the government to lift the ban on exports, Pourian said “unconditional exports” will be key to this critical situation to prevent further losses.
In case the trend is not dealt with properly, Pourian said, thousands of farmers will go bankrupt and the country will face severe challenges in the red meat market next year.
Ahmad Moqaddasi, the head of Cattle Farmers Association, said in April there is a surplus of 200,000 beef cattle ready to head for Iran's industrial-scale slaughterhouses, but the decline in consumption due to the pandemic has hampered the process.
The top 10 red meat producing provinces in Iran are Khorasan Razavi, Fars, East Azarbaijan, Mazandaran, West Azarbaijan, Isfahan, Khuzestan, Tehran, Ardabil and Hamedan.
Imports are made from the Commonwealth of Independent States as well as from Brazil and Australia.
There were 43 million sheep and lambs as well as 15.3 million goats and goat kids in Iran's livestock farms during the second quarter of the current year (June 21-Sept. 21), registering an increase of 0.3% in the number of the former but a decline of 7% in the latter compared with the same period of last year, SCI reported.
A total of 1.4 million lambs and 453,000 goat kids were born during the second quarter, registering a 71.2% and 82% decline compared with the previous quarter.
Domestic livestock farms raised 3.9 million sheep and lambs, and 1.2 million goats and goat kids during the period, which indicate a 35.9% and 23.6% growth quarter-on-quarter.
“Thanks to the seasonal increase in the number of cattle in spring and summer, the supply of lightweight livestock has increased by 50%, that of lamb by 35%, live calves by 40% and the supply of veal has grown by 25%,” Pourian said.
