India’s demand for animal feed imports could increase significantly in the years ahead depending on how fast the population’s income grows and domestic production expands, a USDA study says.
Corn imports could pass 20 million metric tons by 2034 and reach 122 million tons by 2050 under a scenario of rapid income growth, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service. With moderate income growth, corn import demand would only reach 26 million tons by 2050, assuming no adoption of biotechnology. With biotech crops, imports would only reach 14 million tons, the report says.
“Hence, the income growth assumption is vital in determining estimated imports,” it says.
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Soybean meal imports would increase from 2.1 million tons in 2020 to more than 10 million by 2030 with rapid income growth and 49.4 million or 52.9 million tons by 2050, depending on the rate of biotech adoption.
"Among grains, corn has been the major imported grain and the primary driver behind the rise in total grain imports from 2015/16 to 2019/20, peaking at 318,000 metric tons in 2019/20 before dropping to zero from 2020/21 to 2022/23," the report says.
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