Telangana tops egg consumption, but sees dip in production

HYDERABAD: Covid-19 has pushed Telangana’s per capita consumption of eggs to number one position with 181 eggs per person a year, which is the highest among all States and more than double the national average of 74 eggs. 

​According to the National Egg Co-ordination Egg Committee (NECC), the domestic consumption of eggs has gone up by 30 lakh post Covid outbreak after doctors, medical staffers and various health institutes suggested public to consume more eggs to build immunity levels to fight the virus. 

The egg consumption which was 1.7 crore daily before Covid-19, went up over 2 crore daily, including 75 lakh eggs in Hyderabad alone. Subsequently, the State topped per capita charts in the country. While National Institute of Nutrition recommends the consumption of 181 eggs per capita per year, Telangana is the only State to achieve this figure, while Tamil Nadu stands in second position with around 140 eggs per capita per year, stated the



NECC.

Speaking to media, Sanjeev Chintawar, business manager of NECC, said that majority of the people are consuming eggs and particularly after Covid-19 outbreak, the egg consumption has gone up. Meanwhile, feed cost has also gone up by 40 per cent with the price of maize increasing from Rs 12/kg to Rs 21/kg, while the price of soyabean cakes skyrocketing from Rs 35/kg to Rs 72/kg, he added.

On the other hand, the egg production in the State has witnessed a dip. If the production of eggs before Covid-19 was 3.7 crore a day, it has dropped to 3.2 crore now. Out of this, 2 crore eggs are utilised for domestic consumption, while 1.2 crore are transported to other States such as Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

At present, there are around 3,000 to 3,500 layer farms producing eggs in the State. Meanwhile, the cost of a single unit of egg at a farm was Rs 5 to Rs 5.6 in wholesale, on Tuesday. However, kirana and grocery stores were selling these eggs at Rs 6 to Rs 6.5 per unit.