Egg price plummets to ₹3.85 in Namakkal

Egg prices in Namakkal drop to ₹3.85 due to reduced consumption and export disruptions amid global conflicts.

Following the reduction in egg consumption and the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, the procurement price of egg has decreased to ₹3.85 in Namakkal.

Namakkal, popularly known as the Poultry Town, has over 1,600 poultry farms that house six to seven crore birds. The five to six crore eggs produced daily in these farms are transported to Kerala, Puducherry, Karnataka, and various parts of Tamil Nadu. Eggs are also supplied to the noon meal scheme in government and aided schools across the State. Similarly, eggs are exported to Muscat, Dubai, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Following the war, the eggs exported to West Asian countries have been affected. Additionally, due to rise in temperature, the consumption of eggs has decreased in Tamil Nadu and nearby States. As a consequence, the egg procurement price started to decline. The procurement price, which stood at ₹4.45 on March 17, has reduced to ₹3.85 on March 27.

The National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), Namakkal zone, which fixes the egg price on a daily basis, announced that ₹3.85 is the final price and will not be reduced any further. The poultry owners were also asked to sell the eggs for the price fixed by NECC.

Meanwhile, poultry owners claimed that the production cost per egg is around ₹5. Due to the drastic reduction in egg price, they are sustaining losses of several crore of rupees. They also added that due to the conflict in West Asia, the export of around 50 to 80 lakh eggs per day to those countries were halted.

Tamil Nadu Poultry Farmers’ Association (TNPFA) president K. Singaraj said that every year from February 15 to April 15, the egg price will be reduced due to summer and closure of schools. For the past one month, the export of 80 lakh eggs per day to foreign countries have been stopped, and these eggs were entering the domestic market. While the price crossed ₹6.50, we earned profit. Now we are sustaining loss, which is normal in business. After April 15, due to an annual fishing ban for 61 days in Tamil Nadu, the egg consumption will increase. So the egg price will increase in the next two weeks, Mr. Singaraj added.