Eggs act pricey for poultry farmers

CHANDIGARH: The healthy egg has been gathering heat unnoticed. Though the morning breakfast of an egg-lover may not have become cheaper, a sharp drop in the price of eggs over the past 10 days has brought in unexpected losses for poultry farmers in the region.
According to market watchers, while the per unit retail price of eggs has remained Rs 2.50, for the poultry farmers the price has come down from Rs 2.08 per unit to Rs 1.22 in the past 10 days.Experts in the segment said though a marginal drop in price is normal in the month of April as days start getting warmer, an average drop of as much as 60 paise per unit over this period has hit the farmers as egg production cost per unit for them has remained Rs 1.50 per unit.
Usually, the seasonal drop in prices is not this much.
Chief executive of National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), Ajit Singh told The Times of India: "The reason for this sharp drop in farmer's price has been panic selling by him as stocks piled up. This resulted after traders did not lift usual quantities following bird flu scare reports from Bangladesh and Pakistan." Ajit Singh further said that states like Nagaland, which border Bangladesh, stopped import of eggs, which creating panic among traders in the north, who then reduced their picks from the farmers.
According to NECC estimates, around two crore eggs are consumed per day in states like UP, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Punjab, HP, Haryana and J&K. If we consider the average drop of 60 paise/unit in rates in the past 10 days, the farmers have been losing around Rs 120 lakh per day.
President, Haryana Poultry Farmers Association, Darshan Singla, said, "In the Barwala belt the wholesale price has come down from Rs 1.90 per unit to Rs 1.30/unit. But the retail rate has been around Rs 2.50/unit."