The Hindu Business Line : One crore eggs to be shipped from down South to Patna

The onset of winter in the North Indian States may hold promise for Tamil Nadu's layer egg producers to steady a slackening marketing. But developments nearer home are not that promising.

The approaching Sabarimala pilgrimage season is seen as cause enough to impact egg consumption, affecting the sale of eggs and the price sentiment in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

As a contingency measure to prevent slide in the wholesale egg price and also prevent stock accumulation of shell eggs, the National Egg Coordination Committee's zonal-level functionaries in Namakkal have geared up to move at least one crore eggs to cold-storage points in Patna, to protect poultry farmers from further price squeeze.

This move, according Dr P. Selvaraj, Chairman of the zonal NECC committee, Namakkal, is to prevent stock accumulation of eggs whose sale has been affected partly due to the commencement of the Sabarimala season and also by the prevailing high retail prices. While the stiff retail price of Rs 2-2.25 per egg has led to consumer resistance affecting sales, the austerity being observed in consumption during this pilgrimage season has also threatened to further slow the movement of eggs in the market.

According to Dr Selvaraj, Dr Anuradha Desai, chairperson of NECC, has sounded that the committee would initially procure one crore eggs from the region and ship them to cold-storage points in Patna as it anticipates egg consumption in the northern States to pick up with the advancing winter, expected to be severe from this month. "This is going to be a pure market intervention strategy by the NECC aimed at protecting poultry farmers. The apex body will buy one crore eggs from the farmers. This is expected to stabilise the market and the prices," Dr Selvaraj told Business Line.

The Namakkal zonal committee has also decided to keep the farm-gate price for the eggs at the current level of Rs 1.75 a piece for this week too, given the move to decongest egg stocks from the region and the general perception of an increased egg consumption trend during the first week of any month.