Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Jun 13: At a time when chicken prices are touching the sky, eggs are not far behind. There has been a steady increase in prices of eggs since sometime. Retail prices of eggs have crossed Rs 5.50 per piece since a week and the price is expected to go up further.

During coronavirus lockdown, the poultry industry had encountered lot of problems. People who relied on the unsubstantiated rumours floated in social media that coronavirus spreads through chicken accounted for the downfall of the industry. The production of chicken meat and eggs was thereafter substantially cut all of a sudden. As a result, supply now is not commensurate with the demand. This explains the sudden spurt in prices, those in the business say.

On an average, 19 crore eggs are produced in the country every day. National Egg Coordination Committee fixes a price. But wholesale merchants deal on a large scale. Even when the egg prices go down, many a time, the benefit is not passed on to the consumers. A dealer in eggs says that retailer get eggs at Rs 4.65 a piece now and sells them for over Rs 5.50 in the market.

The price of eggs during December 2019 stood at Rs 4.85. The rate slumped and reached Rs 3.20 by May. Now, the prices have picked up and now stand at Rs 4.65. This may go up further because supply is less than demand, says an egg dealer.

Vasant Mysore, member of National Egg Coordination Committee, says that in any cases, different prices are fixed for different states. He said that after the coronavirus lockdown, for the first time, uniform rates are being fixed now. He noted that in the past, eggs used to be supplied to markets commanding higher prices from other centres. Now that uniform prices are being fixed, this practice has stopped, he observes.