ADAFSA Expects 9% Increase In Livestock Production In 2020

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 13th Jul, 2020) The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, ADAFSA, expects livestock and crop production to reach about 694,110 tonnes by the end of 2020, which means an increase of 16 percent as compared to nearly six percent in 2019.

In 2019, the total production in Abu Dhabi’s agri-production including livestock and crop sectors reached nearly 654,637 tonnes, achieving an increase of more than nine percent compared to 2018, where production volume recorded 600,500 tonnes.

According to results of the survey conducted by ADAFSA’s Statistics and Analysis Division, covering commercial and small-scale producers' farms in Abu Dhabi, livestock production will witness an increase of 20 percent by the end of 2020, compared to 2018, and nine percent as compared to 2019. Meanwhile, vegetable and fruit production will increase by 13 percent at the end of 2020, compared to 2018, and by four percent as compared to 2019.

The volume of livestock production in commercial and small-scale farms is expected to reach 285,654 tonnes during 2020, as against 262,101 tonnes in 2019, and nearly 238,180 tonnes in 2018. Meanwhile, crop production of conventional, commercial and dates farms is projected to record 408,456 tonnes in 2020, as against nearly 392,536 tonnes in 2019, and about 362,320 tonnes in 2018.

Furthermore, large and small commercial farms are about to make a new leap in livestock production. By the end of 2020, those farms may produce about 252,413 tonnes of meat, poultry meat, table eggs and cow milk, which accounted for 88.3 percent of the total livestock production. This production will increase about 10 percent, compared to 230,135 tonnes of production in 2019, and some 23 percent compared to 205,798 tonnes of meat, poultry meat, table eggs and cow milk production in 2018.

Compared to 2018, poultry meat production will increase by 40 percent in 2020, and by 14 percent as against 2019. Moreover, cow milk production is expected to increase by 20 percent and nine percent respectively, while table eggs production will increase by 15 percent and six percent, respectively, ADAFSA’s survey results showed.

Additionally, statistics indicate that meat production in Izba and slaughterhouses for self-consumption is expected to increase by four percent, producing about 33,241 tonnes by the end of 2020, as against nearly 31,966 tonnes in 2019. Camel meat production is further projected to increase by nine percent this year, reaching 15,610 tonnes, compared to 14,319 tons in 2019, and 15,003 tons in 2018.

Statistics also show significant growth in conventional farms’ production of vegetables and fruits, as these farms will produce 132,191 tonnes by the end of 2020, compared to 100,363 tonnes in 2018, with an increase of 32 percent, and compared to 122,550 tonnes in 2019, with an increase of eight percent in the production of vegetables and fruits. Meanwhile, dates production occupies the largest proportion of crop production, reaching 253,265 tonnes in 2020.

ADAFSA seeks to meet farm owners’ aspirations by helping increase local production, improve its competitiveness in the local market, ensure its contribution to the food security system, and increase product self-sufficiency. It is also keen on opening up various marketing channels to help small producers market their products.

The Authority urged farm owners to join the local product supply contract programme, which allows Abu Dhabi farmers to supply their produce easily and at competitive prices to the ADAFSA. This service is being provided through 17 collection centres across the emirate.