Livestock department unveils strategies to prevent egg price crash
The Department of Livestock Development is focusing on eliminating some hens and pushing exports in a bid to curb the crashing price of eggs during the “vegetarian festival” (Gin Jay Festival) in October.
Meanwhile animal feed factories have requested quotas to import other raw animal feed ingredients instead of the high-priced local corn.
Ahead of the annual vegetarian festival from October 6-14, the Department of Livestock Development held a Zoom conference meeting on September 6 to discuss preventive measures as the prices of chicken eggs would drop during the festival. Representatives from the Department of Internal Trade (DIT), cooperatives, associations, clubs and breeding chicken entrepreneurs were in attendance, with deputy director-general of the Department of Livestock Development.
The meeting highlighted three strategies:
- Laying-hen farms with more than 100,000 hens are to get rid of hens 75 weeks old. Farms with 30,000-100,000 hens are to get rid of hens 80 weeks old;
- The 63 laying-hen farms with more than 200,000 hens are to promote export of eggs with the targeted amount of 150 shipping containers from October to November. Farms that are unable to export are to get rid of the hens in the proportion prescribed by the Department of Livestock Development;
- The Department of Livestock Development is to control the fertilised eggs, as fertilised eggs in the market have caused suffering to smallholder farmers.
In addition, the meeting has proposed to the Ministry of Commerce to compensate those who export chicken eggs. The ministry was also urged to control and supervise the price of raw animal feed ingredients, or to allow animal feed factories to import other raw animal feed ingredients to replace the local corn, which is currently priced high.