BHUBANESWAR: Members of All Odisha Layer Farmers’ Association (AOLFA) on Wednesday threatened to launch protest seeking a ban on import of low quality eggs to the State. he association urged the State Government to regulate the activities of National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) as the egg price fixed by it for the State remains ‘arbitrarily low’ depriving the layer farmers of minimum profit.
They also pointed out that the cost of poultry feed in the State has increased manifold in the last one and a half years, but its wholesale price continues to remain same.
Association general secretary L Saroj Kumar Patro said the loss is so huge that 12 egg production farms have already been shut down in the State. Low quality eggs and old stock of 15 to 20 days are being imported from the neighbouring States and supplied across Odisha at a lower price, he alleged. “The practice by some unscrupulous traders is not only preventing State egg farmers from getting their dues but also causing health risk for consumers,” he said.
Stating that livelihood of around 1.5 lakh people in the State depends on layer farming that has provided direct employment to 50,000 people and indirect employment to another one lakh people, Patro urged the Government to intervene in the matter immediately and take adequate measures to prevent supply of eggs from outside market to the State. The AOLFA members threatened that if appropriate measures are not taken on time, they will be forced to launch protest and prevent supply of eggs at the check gates.