Lately, do you find yourself peering at the great variety of eggs available at your local supermarket totally lost and confused? After all, it can be daunting to be faced with choices as vast as herbal eggs, Vitamin D eggs, omega-3 eggs, diabetic eggs, cardio eggs, brun eggs and so on. More often than not, the befuddled consumer just reaches out for a pack blindly without really understanding what he or she has just picked up. In our quest to better understand what goes into the making of such 'enriched or specialty eggs.

Though temperatures have reduced, poultry farmers were asked to continue supplementation of Vitamin C and electrolytes through feed and drinking water to improve heat tolerance in birds.A press release from Agromet Field Unit of Veterinary College and Research Institute and Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, said that the sky would be partly cloudy and remain dry in the next four days.

Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) on Friday launched a livelihood development programme for tribespeople in the district, as part of the Tribal Development Project conceptualised in a prospective plan workshop ‘Wayanad 2030’ in 2013.

The two-day-long Krishi Mahotsav, organised by district administration, Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) and Agriculture department, concluded on Thursday. Ten maize farmers, who participated in online trading of the crop, were felicitated. This is the first time that online trading of maize is being implemented in the State.

Maize prices closed higher by 1.06 per cent on Tuesday at the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) as a result of a rise in the demand from exporters and poultry industries. At the NCDEX, maize futures for March 2016 contract closed at Rs. 1,428 per quintal, up by 1.06 per cent, after opening at Rs. 1,414 against the previous closing price of Rs. 1,413. It touched the intra-day high of Rs. 1,451.

Mumbai: Egg wholesalers in Mumbai observed a total bandh Monday in protest against the high rates fixed by National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC). Wholesalers are being charged Rs 60-65 more than last year, and this has caused retail rates to skyrocket as well.

Mumbai is likely to witness a severe shortage of eggs from Sunday, with the city-based trader association putting a flash ban on purchase of eggs from poultry farms.With eggs reaching an all time high of Rs 60 per dozen in the retail segment - each egg costing Rs 5 - the poultry owners, last week, escalated the price on eggs even in the wholesale market. 

Indian soybean fell on weak export demand for meals on Monday, while rapeseed dropped due to thin domestic demand.

The March soybean contract on the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange declined 1.4 percent to 3,664 rupees ($53.56) per 100 kg.

India, Feb. 23 -- Maize prices closed higher by 0.74 per cent on Monday at the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) as a result of a rise in the demand from exporters and poultry industries. At the NCDEX, maize futures for March 2016 contract closed at Rs. 1,360 per quintal, up by 0.74 per cent, after opening at Rs. 1,357 against the previous closing price of Rs. 1,350. It touched the intra-day high of Rs. 1,360.

PUNE: India is likely to enjoy a normal monsoon this year, a senior weather scientist has said, raising hopes that the country may be able to reduce its dependence on imports for maize, pulses and wheat, among other commodities, after two years of below-average rainfall. 

PM Narendra Modi wooed rural India on Sunday, inaugurating a rural-urban or Rurban mission at Dongargarh in Chhattisgarh and exhorting Odisha farmers to sign up for his government’s crop insurance scheme.

Come April and Indian farmers will have pan-India access to all agriculture mandis for selling their farm yield. The platform, to be known as National Agricultural Market, will allow farmers to know best rates for their yield through the internet. He also asked governments and farmers to join hands to take a pledge to double income for farmers by 2022, when India will mark 75th anniversary of its Independence.

The Kongu Group of Companies recently launched the Herboo brand of premium chicken, a release said. The chicken has been tested and certified by the Eurofins Laboratory, Germany, that it does not have any molecules of drugs. Eurofins is an authorised laboratory of FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India). The chicken is also certified by Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Centre for Animal Health Studies, Chennai  and Chennai Mettex Laboratory-authorised FSSAI lab for southern region. A release from the company said, a team of veterinary doctors visited all farms to make sure the birds were raised healthily.

Demand for poultry feed in India has been increasing consistently over the last five years on account of rising population, growing demand for healthy poultry products such as broiler meat and surging demand for compound poultry feed. According to the 19th Livestock Census by Department of Animal Husbandry, growing demand for poultry products in India is being witnessed on account of increasing poultry population

To give an impetus to crop diversification, the government in Punjab, India’s grain bowl, plans to replace the water-guzzling paddy (rice) with hybrid maize in two lakh hectares this kharif season (2016-17).The government will go in for hybrid maize, considered the best alternative to paddy, in 14 districts.

SRINAGAR: Illegal import of frozen chicken in Kashmir according to poultry dealers is badly hitting their business.GM Bhat, Kashmir Valley Poultry Farmers Association President expressed serious concern on these imports, which according to him are not only unhygienic, but even not certified as halal.

India prepares to import corn for the first time in 16 years, at least one stipulation in its international tender has become much tougher to meet - that shipments of the crop are completely free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The availability of pulses in the country has been pegged at around 17 million metric tonnes for the year 2015-16, as against the requirement of 20 million metric tonnes. This clearly shows a supply deficit, but the larger picture indicates a drastic drop in per capita protein consumption and thus, a looming malnutrition issue.

The stock of Venky’s (India) Limited (NSE:VENKEYS) is a huge mover today! The stock increased 11.39% or INR 25.8 on February 15, hitting INR 252.4. Venky’s (India) Limited (NSE:VENKEYS) has declined 72.68% since July 17, 2015 and is downtrending. It has underperformed by 62.48% the S&P500.

Hyderabad: It is three years now since loading of eggs on railway from Anaparthi in East Godavari to various parts of the country stopped. The reasons for poultry merchants looking to road transport include multiple handling, breakages, porters’ inability to handle fragile goods, air-tight rail wagons that are detrimental to eggs and issues of last mile  connectivity.