India's egg production to touch 100 billion annually

New Delhi: India's egg production will soon touch 100 billion annually from nearly 90 billion per year as the poultry sector is growing rapidly and becoming organised, the government said on Friday.

Addressing a conference to mark World Egg Day, Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala said the poultry sector is growing rapidly and is contributing to the country's food security. He said the sector provides a lot of employment opportunity and would help immensely in achieving the government's target to double farmers' income by 2022.

Rupala said the poultry business does not require huge investment that helps small and marginal farmers. Minister of State for Agriculture Krishna Raj spoke about importance of eggs in our daily life.

"Eggs are clean and healthy food," she said. Speaking at the event, Agriculture Secretary Tarun Shridhar said the country's poultry sector is estimated at Rs 1 lakh crore. "Egg production is about 90 billion and will soon reach 100 billion per year," he added.

Stating that the poultry sector was growing at 6 per cent annually, he said the sector has become organised which would help in tapping export markets. At present, the availability is around 70 eggs per person per year, while as per National Nutrition Institute this should be about 180 eggs per person.