Nutritionists call eggs an "ideal" food, and for the country's low-income people eggs are the easiest and cheapest source of protein. But with the rise in fuel prices, egg prices have gone up along with other essentials. Consumers are being forced to pay more for what was a comparatively cheap food. In the capital's neighbourhood retail markets, a hali (four) of eggs is selling at Tk 54-56, so a single egg costs Tk 13.50 to Tk 14. People on limited incomes are worried about rising costs.

A visit to various markets in the capital on Monday, 15 August, found that egg prices had risen by the dozen at kacha bazars too. A dozen brown eggs is selling at Tk 150, up Tk 40 to 50. A dozen white eggs costs Tk 150, deshi eggs Tk 210 and duck eggs Tk 200 a dozen.

Sabrina Sultana, a resident of Segunbagicha, was taken aback that day to hear eggs cost Tk 150 a dozen. She told Jago News that egg prices should not have risen so much just because of higher fuel prices. "Many people cannot buy enough fish and meat in today's market. Now even eggs, which were within the reach of the poor, are sky-high. Can you imagine! Where will people go!" she said.

Sabuj Uddin Khan, an egg trader at Segunbagicha kacha bazar, told Jago News that farms have no electricity and light has to be provided with generators, while diesel is also dearer. Chicken feed prices have risen and production is low, while demand for eggs in the markets is high, so prices are up. Many farmers had also incurred losses before and their businesses will not survive if they cannot sell at higher prices now. Egg prices went up, like everything else, especially after the fuel price rise, he said.

Eggs that cost Tk 90 a dozen before Eid rose to Tk 115-120 after Eid. At the busy Tejgaon wholesale market, 100 eggs sold for Tk 1,120 on Monday, meaning an egg costs Tk 11.20 even at wholesale. Before the fuel price rise, an egg cost Tk 8.80 to at most Tk 9 at wholesale.

Market analysis shows the arrival of eggs at Tejgaon has fallen. There are 65 egg wholesalers there, which once traded 40 to 50 lakh eggs a day on average. That number has now fallen to 20 to 25 lakh. Higher chicken feed prices have also pushed up egg prices. Farmers now pay Tk 3,300 for a 50 kg sack of poultry feed, Tk 3,000 for Sonali feed and Tk 2,700 for layer feed. In a year, the price per sack has risen by Tk 910 for poultry feed, Tk 825 for Sonali feed and Tk 665 for layer feed. With feed prices rising again and again, many farmers are losing interest in the business. Chicken medicine has also become dearer. Farmers are frustrated because market prices do not match production costs, and production has fallen. Transport costs for egg consignments have also risen since the fuel price increase.

Haji Mohammad Nasir Uddin, publicity secretary of the Tejgaon egg traders' multipurpose cooperative society, told Jago News that everything in Bangladesh is more expensive in the current situation. Chicken feed, medicine and vaccines cost much more than before, and soybean, a favourite chicken feed, is also dearer. Because of this, many poultry farmers have subsidised their businesses over the past two years and many small farmers have closed down. As a result production has fallen and egg supply in the market is low, while demand has risen, so prices have gone up.

He said that besides feed, the wheat and maize used as chicken feed have become dearer, and soybean oil fed to chickens costs Tk 50-60 more a litre. Everything has become dearer in this global crisis and eggs have been affected too. But compared with other essentials, eggs are still not that expensive, he said.

The Department of Livestock Services cites higher chicken feed prices and transport costs as the reasons for the rise in egg prices.

Zinat Sultana, deputy director (farms) of the department, told Jago News that prices of all food products have risen on the world market. Maize and soybean, which are fed to chickens, have become several times dearer. Load-shedding has also increased the use of diesel, raising farmers' costs considerably. For these reasons egg production has fallen and prices have risen. When the market returns to normal, egg prices will come down, she said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.