Daily egg output declines to 3.5 million from eight million

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The daily production of eggs had dropped to 3.5 million from eight million, All-Island Poultry Farmers’ Association Chairman, Ajith Gunasekara, said.

He told The Island that farmers were not starving the market.

“We can only keep an egg for 14 or 15 days. After that they get rotten. The egg production has dropped. It’s impossible to produce eggs at the controlled price,” he said.

Gunasekara said in the second quarter of 2022, the production of broiler meat, too, had decreased by 30% to 12,000 metric tonnes per month. It was from 18,000 metric tonnes earlier, he said.

“Prices have also gone up. In March this year, the price of an egg was around Rs. 20. Now, people can’t even produce them at Rs. 55 each. This is mainly because we do not have enough feed,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National Animal Farmers’ Union Convener, Sujeewa Dhammika, said that it was impossible to sell an egg at 55 rupees.

“We don’t want to increase prices. However, the cost of feed has gone through the roof. A lot of farmers have closed shop. They have also sold their chicken for meat. Most people can’t afford to buy parent chickens, so the industry is on the verge of collapse,” he said.

Dhammika alleged that during the Christmas and New Year season, Sri Lankans, on average, consumed about 200 million eggs.

“Some sections want to make the local production collapse and import eggs. Even if they have a two-rupee profit from an egg, they can make 400 million rupees in a few weeks. That’s what’s going on,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture, Mahinda Amaraweera said that there the poultry industry was on the verge of collapse. The Cabinet would discuss the matter soon and take steps to ensure that the industry would remain afloat, he said.