March 26, 2007

Hatcheries in Indian state to add 7 million eggs to production

Hatcheries in the Namakkal egg zone in Tamil Nadu are ramping up production by 7 million eggs a week after the state government announced eggs would be supplied thrice a week instead of twice in its noon meal scheme.

The state currently has a free noon meal scheme for schoolchildren and pensioners. The industry currently supplies 14 million eggs a week to the noon meal scheme under the `twice a week' egg schedule.

With the scheme being revised to `thrice a week' schedule, the poultry farmers have to go for an additional production of 7 million units per week to meet demand.

The move is part of efforts to help the local poultry industry recover from the devastating effects of bird flu last year.

Poultry farmers in the state were elated by the news and said the industry would become vibrant once again. 

Tamil Nadu is the only state in India to have the noon meal scheme. The chairperson of the National Egg Co-ordination Committee Anuradha J. Desai called upon other states to follow Tamil Nadu's example.

Namakkal's egg zone produces 20 million eggs everyday of which 7 million go to Kerala and 7 million goes to local markets.