Hike in the price of vegetables and drop in production has sent the cost of eggs skyrocketing for the last few days in Namakkal, a major egg production hub in the country.
The wholesale egg price has soared to ₹5.16 at Namakkal on Friday, the highest ever so far.
Namakkal ranked second largest egg production zone among the more than 30 National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) zones in the country.
The strength of layer birds (egg laying chicken) in Namakkal zone stood at more than four crores. The district accounted for about 80 per cent of the strength of layer birds population in the State and has more than 1,000 poultry farms.
The poultry industry here is witnessing a steady fall in the production of eggs for the past few months.
According to details provided by NECC, about 2.88 crore eggs were produced every day in Namakkal zone during the month of July this year, which fell to 2.87 crore in August, 2.84 crore in September and 2.81 crore in October.
The intense cold wave in northern parts of the country that has resulted in steep fall in egg production and also increased egg consumption also scaled up the price of Namakkal egg.
The wholesale price of egg was ₹4.35 during July last year and this was the previous highest price in the Namakkal zone.
Meanwhile, the price of eggs soared to ₹4.41 on November 6 this year and it further rose to ₹4.59 on November 11 and ₹4.74 on November 13.
The average per day egg production in Namakkal zone was 3.36 crore in 2013, 3.14 crore in 2014 and 3.05 crore in 2015.
According to Vangili Subramaniam, vice-president of the Tamil Nadu Egg Poultry Farmers Federation, the wholesale price of egg has registered 15 per cent increase due to the intense cold following widespread rainfall, and commencement of farm activities after a gap of more than two years.
