Industry sources told The Hindu Business Line that increasing demand and dearer fish (due to the 45-day fishing ban imposed by the Tamil Nadu Government) have resulted in egg prices to rising steadily. With the monsoon setting in and Kerala likely to impose fishing ban in mid-June, poultry sources expect egg and chicken prices to be on the boil again. Egg prices touched a record Rs 3.02 in January, while broiler prices skyrocketed to Rs 75/kg during March-April.

Meanwhile, prices of layer birds and cull birds, too, have been increased. NECC has increased the rates of layer birds to Rs 43/kg (Rs 38/kg), while the Broiler Coordination Committee has hiked the price to Rs 59/kg (Rs 54/kg). Namakkal's poultry industry is planning to scale up its layer birds capacity to meet increasing demand. The strength of layer birds in the Namakkal Zone, as on March, stood at 45.9 million and the industry hopes to add another 4 million layer birds to this.