Export zooms to 15 crore eggs per month

COIMBATORE: A phenomenal increase in demand for eggs from Namakkal, the poultry hub of India, has led to its total volume of exports going up several folds over the last few years.

In a significant growth, the egg exports have currently reached up to 15 crore eggs per month as against a meager two crore during the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. From 2022, exports began to grow gradually from five crore eggs every month to reach this pinnacle by the end of 2023.

Strikingly, at the end of this year, the exports have risen by up to 15 crore eggs per month due to increase in consumption during the winter season and because of its use as an ingredient in cakes for Christmas and with the approach of New Year. “From an export of 10 crore eggs during December last year, the exports have grown up now to 15 crore eggs. Over three crore eggs are sent monthly from Namakkal to Sri Lanka, which is a new entrant in our market following a drastic dip in egg production in the island nation,” said ‘Vangili’ Subramaniam, president of Tamil Nadu Egg Poultry Farmers Marketing Society.

After the pandemic years, many egg producing nations scaled down production due to high demand for raw materials, increase in cost of production and labour shortage.

“Also poultry farmers in countries like Sri Lanka and Malaysia have either scaled down production or stopped altogether as cheap supply of poultry feed like soya and maize stopped coming there following the Russia-Ukraine war over the last one year,” he added. Besides exports, nearly 15 lakh eggs from Namakkal are sent daily to north Indian states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam, where the demand is high following the onset of winter. Until a few months ago only a maximum of three lakh eggs were sent to these states.

Poultry farms in Namakkal produce around five crore eggs on a daily basis, of which one crore eggs would be sent to Kerala, around 25 lakh eggs to Karnataka and remaining is consumed in the domestic market. The farmers claimed egg supply in the domestic market slowed down for a few days in Chennai and Southern districts during floods.

Even though the current scenario of exports looks rosy, the real picture is that egg exports remained even higher, a decade ago.

“Namakkal exported one crore eggs per day in 2008 as against only around 30 lakh eggs per day now. It may all look that the exports have increased when compared to the last few years, but that doesn’t project a real picture as exports have only dwindled,” claimed Dr PV Senthil, farmer and general secretary of Livestock and Agri Farmers Trade Association.