Poultry farmers are losing Rs 5 per live bird and about 25 paisa per egg due to high feed costs, those involved in the trade have complained, demanding a ban on the export of feeds like maize and soya to cut down input costs. The cost of production of broiler is about Rs 50 per kg live body weight while the farmers are selling it at Rs 45 per kg on average, Ricky Thaper, the spokesman of the Poultry Federation of India (PFI), said. Similarly, the cost of production of an egg comes to around Rs 2, about 25 paisa more than the selling price per piece, he added. About 70 lakh broilers are produced in the country daily. India also produces 18.03 crore eggs per day. India is ranked as the fifth largest producer of eggs in the world, with annual output amounting to 1.61 million tonnes. The country's poultry exports are mostly to Maldives and Oman. Indian poultry meat products have good markets in Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore as well. Overall, Andhra Pradesh accounts for the maximum egg production in the country. Thaper attributed the loss to the farmers to the high feed cost of poultry products. "Increase in feed costs, mainly maize and soya, is pushing the cost of production of broiler and eggs," Thaper added. The coarse cereal is now selling for about Rs 1,350 per quintal, compared to Rs 700-800 per quintal two years ago. Another ingredient, soya, which was being sold for Rs 900 per quintal is now priced between Rs 2,400-2,600/quintal, trade sources said. The PFI spokesman demanded that the government ban the export of feed to boost there was plentiful supply in the domestic markets. He said poultry farmers are also demanding that the government provide damaged wheat and paddy from the FCI at subsidised prices as a replacement for high cost corn to cut down their expenses. |
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