The National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) appealed to the government to grant a moratorium on payment of interest and loans availed by poultry farmers for a period of one year.

The New Indian Express reports that the price of soya was increased from Rs 2,800 per quintal in April 2012 to Rs 3,980 in April 2013. It has further increased to Rs 4,225 this April to Rs 4,670 in May, according to a press release.

The increase in MSP of soya bean for the current year and the apprehension that soya bean production during the current year might be substantially lower compared to last year due to the predicted deficient rainfall, point to a much higher price in the coming months.

Due to the steep increase in input cost, the average cost of production of eggs has gone up from Rs 2.60 per egg last year to Rs 3.50 presently. However, the average farm-gate price is only Rs 2.75 per egg, thus resulting in a net loss of Rs 0.75 per egg for the farmers.

Similarly the average cost of production of boilers has increased from Rs 52 per kg live weight last year to around Rs 68 presently, whereas the average farm gate price is Rs 57-58, thus resulting in net loss of Rs 10 per kg.

Thousands of small and marginal farmers, representing 20-30 per cent of the industry, have already closed down or suspended their farming operations, as they are unable to feed their birds and meet the overhead costs of sustaining the operations.

If the present crisis is not addressed more than 50 per cent of the farms might be forced to close down, which will result in shortage of eggs and chicken. "If that happens, one should not be surprised if the price of eggs increase by more than 100 per cent," the release said.