Poor shun eggs as prices shoot up in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: Many people belonging to the economically weaker sections of the society are facing the brunt of the increasing egg prices in the city. Poultry experts claim that the price hike will also affect Telangana’s per capita egg consumption for a longer duration.
As per the World Health Organisation, consumption of egg and chicken are important for addressing protein malnutrition and partial blindness among people. The National Institute of Nutrition recommends consumption of 180 eggs and 11 kgs of chicken per person per annum. However, Telangana stands just behind the standard mark with 163 eggs per year, against the national average of 68.
Why the egg price hike?
Currently, the price of an egg has gone up to Rs 6 from Rs 4.50 in the last one week. Experts claim that the current price hike is due to the hike in the poultry feed produce and , transportation. Poultry feed includes maize, soybean and groundnut cake.
The price of maize in the last two years has jumped from MSP Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,760. Similarly, groundnut prices have also gone up by 30 per cent, says poultry experts. "The egg price has to go up to compensate for the poultry feed price hike as the farmer cannot cover the production price any more," said Ponnala Lakshmaiah, winner of the Poultry Legend Award at the International poultry exhibition in Hyderabad.
Taking about the dip in the egg consumption per capita in Telangana, poultry expert and Managing director of Kohinoor Hataries D Raghav Rao stated that, "The current price of the egg is inelastic for the upper-income group as they can afford to buy an egg for Rs 6 and even more. However, for the middle- income group, the egg price is marginally elastic, and for the lower-income section it is highly-priced elastic, as the section has set an amount of money allocated for food and other expenditures."