The Hindu Business Line : TN move for more eggs in noon meal likely to result in expansion of poultry farms

Coimbatore, July 17 The Tamil Nadu Government’s move to increase the number of eggs for the noon-meal scheme from this week to three per week is expected to boost the poultry farms leading to expansion in the number of layer population in near terms.

The shell egg off-take towards noon-meal scheme is believed to go up to around 2.3 crore eggs per week from about 1.4/1.5 crore eggs hitherto supplied. The rise in the off-take is likely to leave some impact on the wholesale price which is expected to see a marginal increase of another 5 to 10 paise per piece over the next few weeks, according to sources in the Namakkal poultry zone.

As per the Namakkal based poultry trade’s reading on the current situation, every third egg supplied to noon meal is likely to add up to the poultry farmer’s margin per egg by three to four paise and take cumulatively the per week egg off-take to noon meal supply within the State to 9 crore eggs. To this extent, the State Government measure would undoubtedly strengthen the layer sector, the State poultry sector sources said.

“We anticipate the shell egg production, which remained stagnant in the last two years in the zone due to the bird flu fears, to go up in another two months, partly due to the increased consumption demand and partly due to the poultry farmers desire to fill the vacuum in the bird population,” said Dr P. Selvaraj, Namakkal based National Egg Co-ordination Committee’s zonal Chairman.

General Slackness

He also discounted the possibility of wholesale egg prices showing any surge immediately due to the hike in noon-meal scheme off-take because of the general slackness seen in consumption in upcountry markets such as Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and certain Eastern markets including Hyderabad that will cast a sobering effect on the shell egg prices in Tamil Nadu too.

“In fact, NECC had last week chosen to bring down the farm gate price of table egg to Rs 1.80 per piece from earlier official price quote of Rs 1.98,” the NECC office-bearer said adding that if at all there was any upward movement in the wholesale price, it would be by 5 to 10 paise more over the next few weeks.

But the NECC sources are keen that the wholesale egg rate be pegged at Rs 1.75 so as to impart stability to the egg market which tend to hit the demand slackness in the event of any sharp rise in the selling price.

The improved market sentiment for table eggs has, according to Namakkal egg trade, led to resumption in the new bird placements in the Namakkal region where the farms are expected to indent higher chicks this year.

“We expect an average 25-lakh new chicks would be taken in every month by the farms, some 4-lakh chicks more than what it used to be in the previous year,” Dr Selvaraj added.