‘Roz khao ande’ plan may burn hole in pocket

Hyderabad: ‘Ande ka funda’ might get a bit costlier in Hyderabad soon. An egg price rise, which could have a cascading effect on all egg dishes, ranging from ‘anda bhurji’ to the ubiquitous omelette, is expected to rise by either the end of May or by the first week of June.

Although summer is the time when consumption and production of eggs is low, experts suggest that once we reach the end of the season, the prices may go up as farmers will look at covering up the losses incurred.

“Since 2020, the prices of eggs have not increased much even though the cost of production has increased with input costs like soybean and maize going up. In the first two months of the pandemic, the industry incurred losses but we were able to recover. While the feed rate has increased, the egg rate has not stabilised proportionately,” says Sanjeev Chintawar, business manager of NECC. He also said they were foreseeing an increase of 25-30 per cent in the coming few months.

Telangana has a daily production capacity of 3.5 crore eggs with almost 2 crore eggs being consumed in the State and the remaining sent to the neighbouring States.

While the cost of production is hovering around Rs 4 to Rs 4.5 per egg, the farm gate price has been set at Rs 3.10 to Rs 3.5 per egg, thus causing a loss of Rs 1 to Rs 1.5 per egg to the farmer. And in case the feed prices increase further then the poultry farmers will be left with no choice but to increase the prices which will directly impact the consumers.

“The increase in retail price of eggs will entirely depend on the production cost which is already high. If these prices increase further then it will become inevitable to increase the market price. However, right now the chances of increased prices are bleak for a few days,” says Chakradhar Rao, president, Indian Poultry Equipment Manufacturers Association (IPEMA).

Proposing a solution to price fluctuations, Telangana Poultry Federation president Errabelli Pradeep Rao said that the government must put up a common rate board so that the market also cooperates with the rates mentioned.

“This will help farmers to decrease their losses and also help them tide through this crisis,” he said.