In Odisha, the humble egg is in price race too
BHUBANESWAR : WHEN all essential food items are getting pricey, can the humble egg be behind?
Selling at Rs 6.25 per piece till a fortnight back, it now costs Rs 7.50 to Rs 8 at retail points. A box of eggs (each containing 201 pieces) is retailing at Rs 1,420 now while its cost was Rs 1,350 last month.
On the contrary, the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), which determines and recommends the egg prices across the country, puts the retail price of eggs at Rs 5.64 per piece and Rs 1,082 per box or ‘peti’.
Egg farmers say increasing costs of poultry feed and transportation are pushing the price up in the state.
Official reports of the Fisheries & Animal Resources Development department put daily production of eggs in the state at 1.03 crore pieces. While there is no official data on the extent of daily egg consumption, the demand is met from Ganjam, Balangir, Dhenkanal, Balasore, Cuttack, Khurda and Bargarh districts, with Ganjam producing half of it.
Ganjam currently has about 80 commercial layer poultry farms. Ten trucks carrying 300 to 350 ‘petis’ of eggs arrive in Bhubaneswar every day while the number is seven trucks for Cuttack. Since there are no cold storages, egg farmers also send stocks to Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal every day so that their stocks are not wasted.
The feed is generally procured from Uttar Pradesh. President of All Odisha Non-Veg Traders Federation Sk Muntaqeem Buksh said, the cost of poultry feed has increased substantially within the last one to two years which is impacting the egg prices every season.
“Poultry feed is primarily made from either marble powder (calcium carbonate powder), maize or soya. Prices of all these three components have doubled,” he said. The cost of marble powder ranging between Rs 11,000 and Rs 12,000 per tonne has jumped to Rs 24,000-Rs 27,000 bracket. Similarly, soya granules selling at Rs 30,000 to Rs 33,000 per tonne now cost Rs 40,000-Rs 46,000. Maize prices have almost doubled too. Added to this is the labour and transportation cost, he said.
At Odisha State Poultry Products Co-operative Marketing Federation Ltd (OPOLFED) where maize feed is primarily used, the egg prices are up too. General manager of OPOLFED Bhaktahari Mallick said egg prices usually decrease in summer and rise in winter because of the change in consumption pattern due to holiday and festive seasons. “However, this season, the price has further soared because of the rise in cost of poultry feed and maize,” said Mallick.
Sixty percent of the poultry feed is maize whose production is less than the demand. “Maize price was around Rs 20 per kg till two years back but has now risen to Rs 27-Rs 28. Apart from the price rise, maize produced in the state is mostly diverted to ethanol industries for blending with petrol which is why, there is a shortage as well,” he said.
Boiling price
Now selling at Rs 7.5-Rs 8 per piece
Box rate up from Rs 1,350 to Rs 1,420
State production 1.03 crore pieces, Ganjam top producer
Prices of marble powder, soya and maize jumped