The egg production industry in Namakkal has proposed to expand by 10 per cent during the 2011-12 financial year mainly due to its overwhelming demand, mainly among the urban population, reports The Hindu.

Talking to newspaper, P. Selvaraj, Chairman of the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), Namakkal Zone, said that Namakkal ranked second among the more than 30 National Egg Coordination Committee Zones in the country.

According to the NECC zonal chairman, egg consumption over the last five years has been steadily increasing by six to seven per cent annually. Consumption of chicken has been increasing by 10 per cent annually during the same period.

He attributed the increasing demand to the high price of fish and red meats such as mutton and beef. Chicken was much cheaper though its price was also steadily increasing, he said.

The strength of layer birds (egg laying chicken) in the Namakkal Zone (Tamil Nadu) as on March 2011 stood at 45.9 million. Namakkal district accounted for 80 per cent of this population followed by Erode with 12 per cent while other districts shared the remaining eight per cent, Mr Selvaraj said.

Regarding expansion, Mr Selvaraj said that of the four million layers that would join the existing strength, poultry farmers in Namakkal would add 3.8 million (95 per cent of total expansion) birds while farmers in Erode and Annur in Coimbatore district would be increasing the bird strength by 100,000 birds each.

While farmers were now getting a meagre 1.95 rupees (INR) per egg (price yesterday, 25 April), the expansion was based in the hope that eggs would be procured from them at INR2.50 per egg to help them avert losses, Mr Selvaraj said. He also expressed confidence that the price of egg and cull birds (chicken) would increase soon and stabilise later.

Mr Selvaraj told The Hindu that the huge demand for chicken and eggs being the reason for the price of the cull bird to be fixed at INR43 per kilo on 25 April – the highest price since January this year.