British Pork Likely to Replace Tandoori Chicken in Punjab
INDIA - Punjab's staple diet, tandoori chicken, could soon have some tough competition from healthy pork with the world famous English taste. The UK is already looking at partnerships with local entrepreneurs for setting up breeding units.
5 December 2013
3 minute read
According to The Times of India, Jean-Pierre Garnier, head of export services, agriculture and horticulture development board (AHDB), UK, said that pork is a much healthier meat than chicken and Punjabis will switch over to it when they realise that the meat in their plate is not from a scavenger pig but a well-bred one brought from England.
"UK is looking at collaboration with Punjabi entrepreneurs for setting up of breeding units with other support infrastructure such as packaging stations so that high-quality pork is sent safely into the consumer's shopping basket," he added.
It was in 1984 that pig livestock and semen was exported to India from the US for the past time. "But now, UK is keen to come together with Indian entrepreneurs, who already have large poultry units, to diversify and consider pig breeding," he said.
Mr Garnier is in Chandigarh for the Great trade road show organised by UK Trade & Investment ( UKTI) as part of British government's international marketing campaign that showcases the very best of what Britain has to offer in order to encourage the world to visit, study and do business with the UK. It supports the Prime Minister's "global race for growth" and Olympic Legacy programme.
He claimed that UK was the leader in genetic engineering in the world and even the largest producers of pork, like Canada, use British technology. "The breeding units there are so structured that they produce five per cent surplus meant, which has to be exported to other countries. Agreements have been forged in China and now India is being looked at a prospective market," he said.
Food safety is turning into a big issue worldwide and Indian farmers too are keen on serving healthy food to consumers.
AHDB officials met with a delegation of potato farmers and owners of potato breeding centres to work out opportunities to come together for engineering new varieties that would be suitable for regions with warmer climate. A delegation of Punjabi farmers will be visiting UK in January to take the initiative forward.
