Sunny side down: Bengaluru cracks under rising egg-spenses

Erratic rains and rising prices of chicken feed have adversely impacted poultry farmers, triggering a steady rise in egg prices in the city. 

Wholesale prices per unit in the city stood at Rs 5.65 in the beginning of this week, while it was Rs 6.5 in retail markets and anywhere between Rs 6 and Rs 8 for packaged eggs in cartons of 12 or 30 eggs in supermarkets and online markets. Although prices have remained steady for the last week, the wholesale price per unit in the city stood at Rs 4.6 and Rs 5.35 on the same date in September and October respectively.

Online delivery platforms have been selling cartons of 12 and 30 eggs for anywhere between Rs 6.5 and Rs 8 per unit. Zepto showed 235 for a carton of 30, which is roughly Rs 7 per egg. Amazon is selling a carton of 30 eggs for Rs 195, which is roughly Rs 6.5 per egg and eggs on Big Basket are going at Rs 8 per unit, in cartons of 12 eggs.

Poultry farmers have been struggling with the hike in the prices of chicken feed, particularly that of maize, broken rice, and sunflower cakes.

According to data from the National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC), the price of sunflower cakes has shot up from Rs 26,000 per ton in October 2022 to Rs 33,500 in November this year, a near 29% increase. Similarly, per ton price of maize has gone up 9.3%, from Rs 21,500 last October to Rs 23,500 this year.

Broken rice, which farmers also note is hard to procure, shot up to Rs 22,500 per ton, an 18% increase compared to last year. Mustard cakes, another feed raw material, has seen a 39.83% increase from Rs 23,600 last October to Rs 33,000 this November.

Satish Babu, Zonal Chairman of Mysuru Zone, NECC, noted that the erratic rains across the state have affected crops -- and in turn, the raw material for chicken feed -- besides the rising prices of the feed. This has left several poultry farmers worried about next year’s summer. “The government needs to import GMO maize and soy from other countries free of duty to supplement the feed we procure here for our chickens. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for farmers to survive at this rate,” he said.

He added that the state imports about 50 lakh eggs every day from Tamil Nadu but with effective measures to support the poultry farmers in the state, this import could also be reduced.

Bakeries in the city have also borne the brunt of the steady price hike, despite having their suppliers. The manager at Pooja Bakery in R T Nagar noted that they had to spend a few hundred rupees more on buying eggs in bulk every week compared to last year. Another bakery in Jayanagar noted that this hike in prices over the past month has contributed to at least a 25% hike in overall expenditure for raw material.