Kolkata: West Bengal Agro Industries Corporation (WBAIC) has taken up major strides in augmenting the production of eggs in Bankura district with an aim to make the state self-reliant and gradually stop importing eggs from the southern states. WBAIC has set a target of increasing its egg production by 20 lakhs in Bankura by the end of 2021.
The Animal Resources Development (ARD) department came up with the Incentive Policy 2017 for the poultry farmers with the department ready to provide subsidy to the extent of Rs 80 lakhs for investors working towards augmenting egg production. Bengal presently has a daily requirement of 3 crore eggs, out of which the state manages to produce nearly 2.5 crore. The balanced eggs are imported mainly from Andhra Pradesh and Punjab. The ARD department has set up a duck farm at Labhpur in Birbhum and renovated a chicken farm at Boromoholla in Suri I Block in Birbhum for increasing egg production.
In the recent administrative meeting at Bankura Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay to hold a virtual meeting with the district magistrates and instruct them to take suitable measures to increase the production of eggs in their respective districts. “The panchayat samitis or the industrialists will get attractive subsidies from the government if they do such projects,” Banerjee had said. Bankura that presently produces 56 lakh eggs daily is leading in production. Banerjee wants the district to lead by example so that the other districts come forward in augmenting their respective production. West Bengal Livestock Development Corporation has recently come up with a state-of-the-art chicken layer farm at Rathtala in Kalyani, which is producing nearly 1 lakh eggs on a daily basis.
