To resolve the egg shortage in the country, eggs will be imported from India. The Bhutan Livestock Development Corporation Limited (BLDCL) will import more than a million eggs next week. It is an interim measure for up to four or five months. Since December last year, the production of eggs went down after poultry birds across the country were fed suspected contaminated bird feed.
Tsirang, the country’s highest egg-producing district, reported a decline in egg production to almost zero. The poultry farmers in the district say that most of their birds have not laid eggs since the recent incident. Most of the birds either died or have been left seriously ill.
In Thimphu, eggs have become a rare commodity in shops, with prices becoming exorbitantly high. A tray of eggs currently costs anywhere from Nu 500 to some even paying Nu 1,000.
According to the BLDCL, they will make changes with the number of eggs to import and the frequency according to the demand.
“BAFRA has a list of suppliers that we used to import eggs from in the past. For now, we have identified one or two agencies in Tamil Nadu from where we will import the eggs,” said Jigme Wangchuk, the CEO of BLDCL.
According to a notification issued by the ministry of agriculture and forests, a tray of eggs will be sold at a retail price of Nu 285 to Nu 305 depending on the dzongkhag.
Jigme Wangchuk said the rates at which the imported eggs will be sold to the people have been fixed by the agriculture ministry.
“We will sell one egg at Nu 9.50 in Thimphu. But beyond Thimphu, places like Paro, Thimphu, Wangdue, Punakha, Gasa, and Haa will have the same price. And beyond Wangdue, Bumthang, Trongsa, it will be Nu 10.”
According to a data from the agriculture ministry, more than 480,000 birds were affected. The daily egg production declined by 68.4 percent from 382,490 in a day to just over 120,723.
As per the department, a Day Old Chick or DOC takes at least five months to mature and start laying eggs. They are hoping that egg production in the country will resume by that time.
In 2020, people in the country consumed about 172 million eggs.
Samten Dolkar
Edited by Yeshi Gyaltshen
