With the Christmas and New Year round the corner, the wholesale price of egg in the Namakkal zone is expected to go up in the coming days.
About 3.19 crore eggs, produced in the zone, are sold nationwide and also exported. However, there was a drop in demand for eggs owing to the fear of avian flu outbreak and a ban on imports by foreign countries.
The data from the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), Namakkal zone, showed that the wholesale price of egg, which ruled at Rs. 3.43 in January this year, dropped to Rs. 2.58 in April and stood at Rs. 3.06 in October. The average price in 2014 is Rs. 3.08. Though, the outbreak of avian flu in Kerala did not affect the egg market, sales dropped by 20 per cent.
Intense cold in north India would push the production down. Also, bulk orders from bakeries for making cakes for Christmas and New Year have started coming in, and the price of egg is expected to go up in the coming weeks, says P. Murugesan, a farmer in Namakkal. Farmers say that despite the drop in consumption owing to the Sabarimala pilgrimage season, the retail market has picked up.
The chairman of the NECC Namakkal zone, P. Selvaraj, told The Hindu that the price could drop next week because of the clearance of stagnation of eggs.
“Since the demand will increase in coming days, the price is also expected to go up,” he said.
