In a release here on Saturday, 14 July, Mr Rao said that poultry industry was facing a severe crisis owing to abnormal increase in the prices of maize and soyameal which were principal feed ingredients. “The price of maize which was Rs.840 per quintal two years ago has gone up to Rs.1,350 per quintal and that of soya has gone up to Rs.4,300 per quintal from Rs.1,700 per quintal.

The yield of maize was 19 million tonnes last year and that of soya 11.50 million tonnes in the country, reports The Hindu. This has resulted in the increase in the cost of production of an egg to Rs.3.25 and that of broilers to Rs.90 per kg,” he pointed out.

Mr Rao said that the Government should channelize soyameal exports to Iran through Government agencies and also ban forward trading in the commodity. “The requirement of the domestic consumption should be considered before allowing further exports,” he added.

He said that the AP produced seven crore eggs per day, which is one third of country’s egg production and three crore broilers per month accounting for one tenth of the country’s broiler production. “The poultry industry is providing employment to more than six lakh people mostly in rural areas,” he added.

At the national-level the poultry industry contributed Rs.60,000 billion to the GNP and provided employment to over six million people. “In addition, two lakh maize and four lakh soyabean farmers are directly dependent on this sector because 80 per cent of the maize and a substantial share of soyameal produced in the country are utilised by the poultry industry,” Mr Rao said.