India's egg production will soon touch 100 billion annually from nearly 90 billion per year as the poultry sector is growing rapidly and becoming organised. Interestingly, the availability in India is around 70 eggs per person per year, while as per National Nutrition Institute this should be about 180 eggs per person.
Addressing a conference to mark World Egg Day, Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala said the poultry sector is growing rapidly and is contributing to the country's food security.
He said the sector provides a lot of employment opportunity and would help immensely in achieving the Government's target to double farmers' income by 2022. Rupala said the poultry business does not require huge investment that helps small and marginal farmers.
Minister of State for Agriculture Krishna Raj spoke about importance of eggs in our daily life. "Eggs are clean and healthy food," she said. Speaking at the event, Agriculture Secretary Tarun Shridhar said the country's poultry sector is estimated at Rs 1 lakh crore.
"Egg production is about 90 billion and will soon reach 100 billion per year," he added. Stating that the poultry sector was growing at 6 per cent annually, he said the sector has become organised which would help in tapping export markets. While Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh topped in the dairy sector, the highest egg producing States in the country were Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Haryana. "Low cost of egg production, high productivity, rise in egg consumption in the north owing to growing per capita income of a young and increasingly urban population and emerging export markets are certain key growth drivers of egg production in India," official said. India exports over five crore eggs worth over Rs 250 crore each year and the winter season is the peak season for exports. Afghanistan, Algeria, Hong Kong, Maldives, Middle East and African countries are leading export markets for eggs produced across India and Brazil, China, Europe, Taiwan and the United States are India's biggest competitors. The global market for eggs is currently at over 2,000 billion and is rising at a growth rate of over 60 per cent.