For the past few weeks, poultry farmers in the country were struggling to meet demands for eggs in the market. Now a different scenario is unfolding. Poultry farms in Sarpang are producing eggs now. However, due to imported eggs and the lockdown, farmers say there is no market.
The Sarpang Layer Cooperative has 1,000 cartons of eggs. And they claim they are not able to sell.
“We have plenty of eggs in poultry farms as well as in our cooperative store. We are not blaming anyone here and we know the farmers have not raised the egg price. The government should have consulted the poultry farmers before importing eggs to avoid such problems,” said Nima Lama, a poultry farmer.
Sarpang Layer Cooperative said due to lockdown and strict COVID protocols, transporting eggs to Thimphu has become difficult. Moreover, the arrival of imported eggs coincided with the increasing egg production in farms.
“As requested, BLDC has agreed to support us. So, we are planning to send our eggs to Thimphu. However, I want to request officials here to allow us transport the eggs directly. Unlike other goods, our eggs are fragile and they should be handled by someone who has experience. Otherwise, eggs are damaged while transshipping,” said Thakur Prasad, chairman of the Cooperative.
The district livestock officer said local eggs are expensive compared to imported eggs, making it difficult for the farmers.
“The reason of Sarpang Layer Cooperative members not being able to market their eggs is due to pricing. We said we will market their produce after consulting BLDC to Thimphu but due to pricing issues we couldn’t,” said Dorji Wangchuk, the district’s deputy chief livestock officer.
While a tray of imported eggs is sold at Nu 320, the price of local eggs starts at Nu 350.
The poultry farmers said the production costs cannot be recovered if they lower the price. But the livestock office has been helping farmers sell eggs since the lockdown.
Karma Wangdi, Sarpang
