A project to procure eggs from poultry farmers was launched by Kerala State Poultry Development Corporation (Kepco) at Kanjikkuzhy grama panchayat in Cherthala taluk on Friday.
Inaugurating the project at the Kanjikkuzhy panchayat community hall, Minister for Forests and Animal Husbandry K. Raju said the State was aiming at self-sufficiency in production of eggs, milk, and meat.
Civil Supplies Minister P. Thilothaman congratulated the panchayat for taking up novel projects aimed at the welfare of farming community. Kepco chairman S. Kuttappan Chettiar and others were present.
The scheme envisages procurement of eggs from farmers at Rs.5 per egg. Kepco will distribute the eggs through outlets of its own and other agencies. The plan is to transport the eggs to various places for distribution. A consignment of 12,000 eggs was procured on Friday. The production of eggs had gone up in Kanjikuzhy after entrepreneurial groups of Kudumbasree took up poultry farming with the aid offered by the grama panchayat under a special scheme named ‘egg village.’ Marketing of the eggs was a challenge to the farmers. Kepco took up the challenge with a view to helping the farmers.
