Egg price soars to new high

Namakkal poultry farmers had reason to rejoice on Monday, at the end of the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) price fixation meeting at the zonal office here.

The price of egg fixed at Rs.3.02 (50 paise more than December's average price of Rs.2.52), will take effect on Tuesday. This is four paise more than the previous highest price of Rs.2.98 on Saturday.

Chairman of the NECC Tamil Nadu P. Selvaraj, told

The Hindu that this was still the lowest price in the country compared to other egg production hubs such as Hyderabad (Rs.3.04), Mumbai (Rs.3.28), Vijayawada (Rs.3.04), Kolkata (Rs.3.42), Barwalla (Rs.3.38) and Delhi (Rs.3.50). The procurement price from the farmers was Rs.2.82 and fixed at Rs.3.02 after including the transportation cost, he added.

The prevailing cold wave in North India was cited as the main reason for the price hike as the seasonal market attracted an average 25 lakh eggs per day of the district's average daily production of 2.75 crore eggs. A price drop has not been envisaged for at least a couple of weeks until the mercury rises in the north states.

According to NECC statistics, last year too there was a price escalation during November 2009-January 2010 when the monthly average price hit Rs.2.74 from just Rs.2. 39 in October 2009. It later dropped to Rs.2.41 in February 2010 soon after the cold wave abated.