In Namakkal, the poultry hub of Tamil Nadu, egg prices were quoted at Rs 2.75 a piece this week against last week's Rs 2.70. The monthly average for June 2010 stands at Rs 272.56 (for 100 eggs) against Rs 244 the same period last year.

Mr R. Nallathambi, President of the Tamil Nadu Poultry Farmers' Association, told The Hindu Business Line that as the poultry farmers' expenditure rise during summer, they cut down on the number of birds. This has resulted in a 5-10 per cent drop in egg production in the State.

“Prices have moved up because demand has remained constant even during summer which is usually marked by lower offtake. Once winter sets in and the austere Tamil month of Aadi commences, there will be a drop in prices as well as demand,” he added.

Another reason, the industry sources attribute to the price rise is the spiralling costs of feed materials such as maize, soyameal and fishmeal. Input costs account for about 40 per cent of the total production cost.

Meanwhile, broiler prices in Tamil Nadu have declined marginally this week to Rs 55-59 a kg from Rs 61-63 a kg last week. “Due to gap between demand and supply, broiler prices usually rise in summer months. For the past two months, there was a rise in consumption from the neighbouring Kerala as the State imposed a ban on fishing. Now that they have lifted the ban, we are experiencing a slowdown in demand,” said Mr P. Selvaraju, Chairman, Broiler Coordination Committee. Still, the prices farmers are fetching for broiler are higher than their production costs. The broiler producers too are enjoying the fruits of cut in production last year.