By Rathindra Kuruwita

The government makes 13 rupees from each egg imported from India, All-Island Poultry Farmers’ Association chairman Ajith Gunasekara said yesterday.The real benefits of importing these eggs have not been felt by the people, he said.

Gunasekara said that most shops still do not have eggs despite imports.The State Trading Corporation said that imported Indian eggs will be sold to bakeries and confectioneries at 35 rupees each.The All-Island Poultry Farmers’ Association chairman said that the government could have sold an imported Indian egg at 25 rupees.

“The plan of the government was to destroy the local poultry industry.Gunasekera said that the government should help the local poultry farmers boost their production.

“We tell the Trade Minister Nalin Fernando that importing eggs is not the answer. We must help the small and medium scale farmers who have stopped operating. We should boost production here. If eggs are imported from India the entire sector will collapse and many people will lose their jobs,” Gunasekara said.

Gunasekara said the production of eggs and chicken had dropped drastically because of high costs. He added that the daily production of eggs, which was around 800,000 per day, had dropped to about 400,000.By the end of 2022 the industry had shrunk by 40 percent due to a severe shortage of animal feed, he pointed out.