NAMAKKAL: Following the bird flu outbreak in several States, including neighbouring Kerala, the price of egg has witnessed a sharp single-day fall of 25 paise here on Thursday, according to the daily suggestive farmgate price released by the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC).
The NECC has pegged the suggestive price at Rs 4.85 for Namakkal on Thursday, down from Rs 5.1 a day ago. The decision was taken unanimously at an NECC meeting held in Namakkal on Thursday.
"On account of the Avian Influenza outbreak (types H5 and H5NB) in a couple of districts in Kerala, the egg price has dropped drastically in Namakkal. Around 40 to 50 lakh eggs are transported from Namakkal zone to Kerala per day. Now, around 15 to 20 per cent of the eggs have stagnated," said NECC chairman P Selvaraj. After Christmas, the price of eggs typically starts to fall in the northern part of India, which has also played a role, he added.
Selvaraj explained that the situation was not uncommon as flu outbreaks happen every year, as there is no vaccination available to combat the flu. “The only solution is to take precautionary measures in poultry farms," he added.
While Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan had earlier said that it is possible for bird flu to affect the human body, Selvaraj pointed out that no human had lost their life because of bird flu in the past 15 years. He added that consuming eggs was safe and there was no need to panic.
Namakkal Egg producers Association President K Mohan and Tamil Nadu Egg poultry Farmers Marketing Society's president Vangli Subramaniam said that the process of disinfecting poultry farms was underway, as per instructions from the district administration. They maintained that the risk of bird flu was low in Namakkal.
The fall in prices has hit poultry farmers, who continue to reel under the stress caused by Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns. At the time, the price had dropped to less than Rs 2 per egg, as rumours spread that the virus could spread through poultry products. This led to a pile-up of crores of eggs at cold storage units in Tiruchy, Salem and Mettupalayam.
Going forward, Selvaraj predicted that the egg price may fall over the next two weeks, as the demand for eggs in Kerala has fallen suddenly. Meanwhile, the cull bird rate has been maintained at Rs 50 for a week.
In the Tirupur zone, the price of chicken at broiler farms has dropped to Rs 77 per kg from around Rs 85 a kg a week ago, according to an office-bearer from Palladam Broiler Farm Owners Association. The retail price is pegged at around Rs 145 per kg. However, he said that the drop in price cannot be attributed to the Avian flu in Kerala. “There will be panic in the broiler farm industry only when the price drops below Rs 70 per kg. Currently, we don't believe that there would be such a large drop in prices. However, the future is uncertain, and broiler farm owners are in a wait-and-watch mode," he added.
(With inputs from MP Saravanan in Tirupur)