Hyderabad: ‘Ande ka funda’ might get a bit costlier in Hyderabad soon. An egg rate rise, which could have a cascading effect on all egg dishes, ranging from ‘anda bhurji’ to the ubiquitous omelette, is expected to rise by either the end of May or by the first week of June.
Although summer is the time when consumption and production of eggs is low, experts suggest that once we reach the end of the season, the egg prices may go up as poultry farmers will look at covering up the losses incurred.
“Since 2020, the prices of eggs have not increased much even though the cost of production of an egg has increased with input costs like soybean and maize going up. In the first two months of the pandemic, the poultry industry incurred losses but we were able to recover. While the poultry feed rate has increased, the egg rate has not stabilised proportionately”. We are foreseeing an increase of 25-30 per cent in egg rates in the coming few months.
Telangana has a daily egg production capacity of 3.5 crore eggs with almost 2 crore eggs being consumed in the State and the remaining eggs sent to the neighbouring States.
While the cost of egg production is hovering around Rs 4 to Rs 4.5 per egg, the farm gate egg rate has been set at Rs 3.10 to Rs 3.5 per egg, thus causing a loss of Rs 1 to Rs 1.5 per egg to the farmer. And in case the Indian poultry feed prices increase further then the Indian poultry farmers will be left with no choice but to increase the egg rates which will directly impact the consumers.
“The increase in retail price of eggs will entirely depend on the production cost of an egg which is already high. If egg prices increase further then it will become inevitable to increase the market egg price. However, right now the chances of increased egg prices are bleak for a few days,” says Chakradhar Rao, president, Indian Poultry Equipment Manufacturers Association (IPEMA).
Proposing a solution to egg price fluctuations, Telangana Poultry Federation president Errabelli Pradeep Rao said that the government must put up a common egg rate board so that the egg market also cooperates with the egg rates mentioned.
“This will help Indian poultry farmers to decrease their losses and also help them tide through this crisis,” he said.
Source – telanganatoday
