Tamil Nadu government's mid-day meal scheme for school kids is set to boost poultry farms in the state.
In a recent decision the Tamil Nadu government increased the number of eggs for the meal scheme to three per week.
This move will lead to expansion in the number of layer population in near terms. The shell egg off-take towards noon-meal scheme is believed to go up to around 2.3 crore eggs per week from about 1.4/1.5 crore eggs.
The rise in the off-take is likely to leave some impact on the wholesale price which is expected to see a marginal increase of another 5 to 10 paise per piece over the next few weeks.
According to traders, every third egg supplied to noon meal is likely to add up to the poultry farmer's margin per egg by three to four paise.
The state government measure would undoubtedly strengthen the layer sector.
The shell egg production, which remained stagnant in the last two years in the zone due to the bird flu fears, to go up in another two months, partly due to the increased consumption demand and partly due to the poultry farmers' desire to fill the vacuum in the bird population.
