India needs three times more eggs to meet required standards

Union Minister for Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh on Friday said currently there are 63 eggs available per person per year, but India needs to have 180 eggs per person per year to meet required standards.

The Minister said this while citing the National Nutrition Institute's standards marking World Egg Day at a ministry function here.

"India is among the top egg producer countries in the world and the production of eggs in the country is about 83 billion," Singh said adding that the government is promoting poultry through its National Livestock Mission.

The Minister said that in order to treble egg production, the government is taking various steps including extending financial assistance to below poverty line families for poultry farming.

He also added that poultry farming is being promoted under the component of entrepreneurship development and employment generation.

Singh also inspected a new variety of arhar pulses -- Pusa 16 -- developed at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, in New Delhi.

"This variety of arhar takes 120 days to get ready for harvesting compared to its other varieties which take about 165-180 days," said an official statement.

--IANS

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