Bengal looking to be self-sufficient in egg production

West Bengal, which buys nearly one crore eggs daily from other states, is aiming to become self-sufficient in three years by increasing production, an official said on Thursday.

There is a demand for 2.75-2.8 crore eggs daily in West Bengal while the state's poultry farms produce, on an average, nearly 1.8 crore eggs daily. The shortfall of about one crore eggs is made up by buying these from other states, West Bengal Poultry Federation General Secretary Madan Mohan Maity said.

"We have seen investment totalling Rs 1,000 crore in the sector over five to six years. This has helped boost average daily production of eggs in the state from as low as 41 lakh to around 1.8 crore at present. The rate of production has grown by nearly 20-22 per cent on a year-on-year basis," Maity told reporters here.

The proposed additional production capacity of 1.2-1.5 crore eggs per day could attract investment of Rs 2,000 crore over three years, to be supported by incentive schemes/subsidy offered by the state government, he said.

In a bid to ramp up layer poultry farming, the West Bengal government had floated an incentive scheme in September last year for three years.

"We have received 44 proposals entailing an investment of around Rs 200 crore," Animal Resource Development Director A.G. Bandyopadhyay said.

The federation on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the State Bank of India to extend loan support to poultry farmers covered under the state's subsidy scheme.

"We are considering five proposals that seek about Rs 28 crore in total as loan. These advances are yet to be sanctioned," an SBI official said.

The state poultry sector had lost close to Rs 400 crore in the last three months due to incidents connected to the sale of carcass meat but things are changing now and egg consumption has been picking up, Maity said.

--IANS

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