In a move to help check the decline in the population of the high-altitude bovine animal, the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has approved the Himalayan Yak as a “food animal” and has made it a part of the conventional milk and meat industry.
According to the National Research Center (NRC) on Yak at Dirang in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, food animals are those that are raised and used for food production or consumption by humans.
NRC-Yak Director Dr. Mihir Sarkar updated that the NRC-Yak had in 2021 submitted a proposal to the FSSAI for considering the yak as a food animal. But the FSSAI responded with an official approval just after a recommendation from the department of animal husbandry and dairy.
FSSAI’s recognition of the yak as a food-producing animal will help farmers benefit economically from rearing the animal, and it will open up several vistas of economic benefits for both farmers and food processors.
Yaks play a multifaceted socio-cultural-economic role for pastoral nomads who rear yaks primarily to earn nutritional and livelihood security due to the virtual absence of other agricultural activity in the Himalayan region. Traditionally, yaks are reared under the transhumance system, which is primitive, unorganized, and full of hardship.
The Center has developed a semi-intensive yak rearing model in which yaks are kept in open areas as well as paddocks all year. It is widely believed that the declaration of yak as a food animal by FSSAI will pave the way for its commercial rearing and consumption by adopting the yak rearing model developed by NRC-Yak.
The yak population in the country has been decreasing at an alarming rate over the years. As per the latest census carried out in 2019, India has 58,000 yaks, which is around a 25 percent drop from the last livestock census carried out in 2012.
This drastic decline in the yak population in India has become a cause of concern to the local users, government officials, and those who promote conservation of animal genetic diversity.
Yak milk is highly nutritious, rich in fat, contains essential minerals, and has medicinal value. Yak farmers produce various traditional meat products. These products are confined to the local community level; they are produced and sold locally.
The decline in yak population could be attributed to less remuneration from yak, so the younger generations are reluctant to continue with nomadic yak rearing. It is mainly because yak milk and meat are not part of the conventional dairy and meat industries; their sale is limited to local consumers.
However, commercialization of these milk and meat products will lead to entrepreneurial development. But for that, it has to enter the conventional meat industry.