Himalayan yak gets FSSAI's food animal tag

Yak, a multi-purpose bovine found in high-altitude areas of the Himalayan region, has been designated as a food animal by the Food Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSAI).

Yak rearing as a profession has not been profitable as it was not recognised as a food animal. But now yak farmers will benefit from the move.

"It is less remunerative because the two principal products, yak milk and meat, were not part of the conventional dairy and meat industries, as this animal was not approved by the FSSAI as a food animal. However, the approval will promote commercial yak rearing and consumption of yak meat and milk," Mihir Sarkar, the director of the ICAR-National Research Centre on Yak in Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh, told DH on Saturday.

Sarkar said yak milk is highly nutritious, rich in fat, and contains essential minerals and medicinal value. "As per the nutritional analysis, yak milk contains 78-82 per cent water, 7.5-8.5 per cent fat, 4.9-5.3 per cent protein, 4.5-5.0 per cent lactose and 12.3-13.4 per cent SNF. The byproducts of yak milk are churkum, churpi, ghee and paneer. Traditional yak milk products are central to highlander cuisine, but they have limitations in appealing to a broader palate.

Yak farmers produce various traditional meat products. But the products have remained confined to the local community level, produced and sold locally. Yak meat is known to be very lean, and it is better than beef," he said.

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Yaks are a prized animal for farmers in the high-altitude areas of the Himalayan region, including Arunachal Pradesh. Over 10,000 households in Arunachal Pradesh earn their livelihoods by selling yak milk products, woollen clothes, and meat, besides providing a mode of transport in the hard-to-reach areas.

However, the yak population has dwindled over the years. In 2019, the yak population in the country was found to be coming down to 58,000, which was 25 per cent less compared to 2012. "But now we strongly believe that the FSSAI tag will not only promote yak meat and milk products but will also boost the yak population in the country," Sarkar said.

In 2021, the ICAR-NRCY submitted a proposal to the FSSAI seeking recognition of the yak as a food animal.

"To conserve and propagate this unique germplasm and to attract the younger generation to continue this age-old farming tradition, yak husbandry needs to be more remunerative. One of the ways to achieve this goal could be through product diversification of yak milk and meat," he said.

Sarkar said traditionally, yaks are reared under a transhumance system that is primitive, unorganised, and full of hardship.

"Our centre 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 the 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,” he said.