NECC appeals govt to substitute maize with other commodities
Hyderabad: With the cost of maize increasing, the poultry industry has appealed for allotment of damaged wheat, paddy and/or broken rice – unfit for human consumption – for use in poultry feed.
The National Egg Coordination Council (NECC) on Sunday appealed to the government of India to allot at least 2 million tonnes of damaged crop as a partial substitute for maize so as to enable the farmers tide over the unprecedented crisis caused due to shortage and steep increase in the price of maize and soya meal.
It mentioned that in the past few years, the price of maize has increased due to reasons such as increased volume of exports and diversion of significant volumes of maize for production of bio-fuel in Bihar. It mentioned that the price of maize has increased from Rs 18,000 per ton to Rs 25,000 per ton currently and might increase further to Rs 30,000 per ton.
“Due to such an increase, the average cost of production has gone up from Rs 4 per egg last year to Rs 4.75 to Rs 5. However, average farm-gate price is Rs 3.50 per egg, thus resulting in a net loss of Rs 1.50 to Rs 1.75 per egg for farmers. Unable to withstand loss, many small and marginal farmers have already shut or scaled down operations. Under these circumstances, partial substitution of maize with other cheaper commodities is the only viable option to help farmers and to ensure that egg and chicken would continue to be available to the poor consumers at affordable cost,” NECC said.
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