Poultry egg farming industry faces danger of collapse: Assn.

All Island Egg Producers Association (AIEPA) today warned that the poultry industry would collapse due to the surplus in the production of eggs and the inability to mark a fixed price for eggs.

AIEPA Treasurer Wijeya Alwis told the Daily Mirror that they are finding it difficult to sell their produce.

"Annually, the Government used to import 80,000 parent birds, but the Animal Production & Health Department had imported 103,000 parent birds to increase the laying of eggs this year. 

All the imported parent hens were distributed among all farmers in the country," Mr Alwis charged.

"Every parent bird starts laying eggs after four months and the production of eggs has gradually increased as a result of having imported a larger number of parent birds. The maximum price for an egg was Rs. 14. After excess production, the farmers cannot rely on fixed price," he said.

In the previous New year seasons, an egg was sold at a maximum of Rs.17 and the farmers have gained reasonable profit.

But this New year, the farmers are staring at a loss. They are unable to market their eggs even to cover up their production costs. 

The poultry farmers are facing a challenge and compelled to sell their produce below the fixed price.

He said the cost of production per egg stands at Rs.15, but we have no option but to sell them between Rs.12 and Rs.13. 

Therefore, there will be a massive downfall in the poultry industry in the next two or three months, he lamented. (Chaturanga Samrawickrama)