The APSAFE (Andhra Pradesh State Authorised Federation of Emu Farmers ) responded to the articles written by Mrs Menaka Gandhi & Hindu.
Find the orginal article below.
EMU FARMING
On 14 October 2012 Mrs. Menaka Gandhi’s article Published regarding the negative impact of emu farming on society in Hindu with article name “Take the Money and Fly” on Page no 3 and in Andhrajyothi as “Emu to Chetu”(Ban Emu) at Page no 4. It is opined that most of the information provided by her in the article is incorrect and her deductions are misleading. AP State Authorized Federation of Emu-farmers (AP SAFE) find it necessary to give the correct perspective on emu farming based on their practical experiences in the enclosed article.
EMU FARMING IN INDIA – TRUTHS AND UNTRUTHS
Recently, an article on emu farming and its negative impact on farmers and society appeared in most of the leading newspapers in India. The article was written by Mrs Menaka Gandhi, a known animal rights activist. However, most of the observations made by her are not true. Moreover, the article if taken seriously may cause panic among emu farmers. Therefore, a point-by-point response to Mrs Menaka Gandhi’s opinions is given in the subsequent.
It was given in her article that emu chicks were smuggled into India from Australia in 1996. However, the truth of the matter is that emu chicks were imported from the United States of America in 1996 after following the rules and regulations applicable in both countries. Documents issued by the Consulate General of India, Chicago, Certificate for Poultry or Hatching Eggs for Export, issued by the US Department of Agriculture and other associated documents are attached (Pages 1-7 of Exhibit A).
The article accuses the Ministry of Animal Husbandry of ignoring the dangers of emu farming and promoting it with a lot of enthusiasm. This accusation undermines the intelligence and farsightedness of all the employees working in the Ministry. Emu farming is not an industry undertaken in India alone. A search on the internet would show how emu farming is encouraged in a number of countries across the world and how various emu products (both meat and oil) are popular in those countries. Australia, USA,China and some of the examples. Although, Mrs Menaka Gandhi doubts the integrity of the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, some of the observations made by the Ministry of Animal Husbandry and the Ministry of Forest Department are attached to help the reader make an objective assessment (Pages 1-3 of Exhibit B).
NABARD is giving loans to emu farmers after careful field research and scrutiny, that too after pledging the property of emu farmers, and certainly not as charity.
Mrs Menaka Gandhi’s article states that a particular firm (Susi Farms) in Tamil Nadu cheated small scale emu farmers. This is an example of human greed bringing a bad name to an excellent industry. The Government of India and state governments should definitely take strong steps to protect small scale emu farmers. But to ignore the benefits of emu farming based on this one incident is not wise. More importantly, if thousands of emu farmers across the country are neglected by the government at this stage, all of them would be driven to bankruptcy. Also, the benefits of emu farming and the services rendered by this growing industry to the country should not be ignored. There is no such incident happened especially in Andhra Pradesh. Here all the emu farmers are doing actual farming in scientific manner. But not it is planning to develop as bigger industry with establishing modernized abattoirs.
The article shows a total lack of knowledge regarding emu farming Often, it borders on complete ignorance. For example, it states that a single emu bird, “has to be fed several times a day, four kilograms of food each time”. Considering that a bird feeds three times in a day, as per the article, it would consume 12 kilograms of food in a day. But the fact of the matter is that the average quantity of food consumed by an adult emu is not more than 750 grams per day. An emu in the wild may eat anything (insects and so on), but the food given to emus in captivity is entirely vegetarian. The article also states that the emus get diseases like encephalitis. Emu is a hardy bird and is generally free of most diseases. In India, there has been no evidence of emus suffering from encephalitis.
The article states that the present cost of emu meat is Rs 450 per kg. The present cost of emu meat (boneless) in Andhra Pradesh is Rs 350 per kg while, the cost of mutton (boneless) is Rs 500 per kg. The only way to bring down the price of emu meat is by increasing the number of birds by incubating more eggs. This is the reason for not selling emu eggs as food. Emu farmers want to increase the number of birds at this stage by incubating the maximum number of eggs. They do not look at an emu egg as a food product at this stage. The article states that there are no slaughter houses to cull emus under hygienic conditions. Most advanced slaughter houses with imported equipment (Vineela Emu Processing Pvt Ltd at Nuzvidu, Krishna emu Products Pvt.Ltd. at Agiripally, Golden Emu Farms Ltd. at Siddipet, AP Emu Processers, Patancheru, VL Food Processers at Khammam, Vaarun Emu Oil Processing, Jadcharla.) are operational at in Andhra Pradesh. More such slaughter houses are in the pipeline across Andhra Pradesh.
The medicinal benefits of emu oil are well-known and beyond doubt. The emu farmers of Andhra Pradesh are in the process of exporting emu oil to oil companies in the US, Australia and Malaysia. This helps earn much needed foreign exchange for our country. Another use of emu oil is for cosmetics. Presently, emu oil is being used in Andhra Pradesh in the production of soaps and face creams after obtaining necessary permission from the government. Emu farming has provided livelihood to a number of farmers across the country. Its products are useful to the society. Emu farming protects the environment as they are raised in captivity.
The cost of mutton is bound to increase in coming days. As our country makes further progress, the demand for non-vegetarian food products will only increase. Therefore, emu farming is essential to reduce the overall cost of meat.
Mrs Menaka Gandhi wonders as to how many farmers will have to commit suicide before India bans emu farming. Emu farming has been in India for the last 16 years. During this period, there has been no instance of an emu farmer committing suicide. However, banning emu farming by the Government of India or state governments would definitely drive emu farmers to suicide. In such a case, Mrs Gandhi will have to bear the burden of guilt.
