The Hindu Business Line : Emu farmers see growing demand for meat, oil

Coimbatore, Aug. 27 The growing demand for emu meat and oil is propelling farmers in the sugarcane belt of Gobichettipalayam in Erode to turn to raising emu on farm-scale.

Small growers

“From what was confined only to a handful of farmersa few years ago, today we have about 100 farmers in the area who have taken up emu rearing actively, though most of them are small growers sheltering a pair of four or five emus each,” said Mr P. Mahadevan, a sugarcane farmer-turned emu rearer from Kottukulampally village in Gobichettipalayam.

In nascent stage

Emu farming in Gobi is still in a nascent stage, as it is in this part of the country, and the farmers there, according to Mr Mahadevan, largely depend on emu chicks supplied by the farms in Andhra Pradesh. He puts the number of emu birds currently being raised in the Gobi division at about 4,000.

The enthusiasm of the Gobi farmers in emu rearing is largely due to hopes of high returns and partly due to their desire to diversify into agro-farming.

Steady demand

Mr Mahadevan says there has been steady demand for emu meat in the South, thanks to rising demand for low-fat meat, especially from food chains and urban centres. There has also been demand from within the local areas for emu oil which is increasingly being used for medicinal application or as body lotion. “But we are not able to meet the demand because of the low number of mature emu population available in the area,” he said.

Slaughter age

The high investment cost and long gestation are two major factors in emu rearing as a bird takes about 18 months before it starts laying eggs and its slaughter age too would be anywhere between 15-18 months.

Emu oil fetches very high price (upto Rs 3,200 per litre). Gaining a body weight up to 45 kg, its fat yield at 10-15 kg would give 7-10 litres of oil. A bird lays maximum 35-40 eggs. Emu’s skin has high value as also its feathers and one sq ft of leather fetches about Rs 500 in the market, according to Mr Mahadevan.

Potential

Mr Mahadevan, who has a own hatchery, at present has 50 breeder birds and another 50 emus for meat.

Considering the potential, he has been promoting emu farming through contract system by roping in small farmers in the Gobi area. “We hope to see the emu population in the area double up by January next,” he added.