Costlier poultry feed, resulting from lower soybean meal output and rising demand of maize from ethanol manufacturers, have led to a rise in prices of eggs and chicken across the country, industry sources said.
Poultry feed prices have gone up by 15% to Rs 4,400/quintal currently, against around Rs 3,600/quintal reported a year ago. Feed cost accounts for 65% of the cost of production for broiler chicken.
Ricky Thapar, joint secretary, Poultry Federation of India, said that farm gate prices of live-weight broiler chicken in the Delhi region have risen to Rs 140/kg from Rs 90/kg prevailing a year ago. Retail meat prices are ruling around Rs 300/kg against Rs 240/kg in the year ago period.
Sources said the supply-demand mismatch of poultry feed could keep prices elevated in the coming weeks, while long-term supply challenges for soybean meal and maize supply remain, with the sector witnessing a steady annual growth of 7% to 8%.
A prolonged heat wave condition and delayed and uneven distribution of monsoon rains have also disrupted poultry production in several states. “India is currently facing a shortage of around 1.5 million tonne of soybean meal before the arrival of new crops later this year. As the poultry sector continues to expand, the long-term availability of its two most critical feed ingredients — soybean meal and maize — is becoming a growing concern,” Thapar told FE.
In the current season, soybean, according to the agriculture ministry, has been sown in 10.6 million hectares so far, a decline of 4.5% year-on-year. Market prices of soybean are currently ruling around Rs 6,900/quintal against the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 5,708/quintal for 2026-27 season.
“Market prices of maize have gone up to Rs 27-Rs 28/kg from Rs 18-Rs 19/kg in April, which resulted in an increase in production cost of chicken meat and eggs,” Divya Kumar Gulati, chairman, Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers Association, said.
Egg prices have also been going upwards in the last couple of weeks. Average retail price of eggs, according to the department of consumer’s price monitoring cell, rose to Rs 86.98/dozen on Friday, an increase of 12% year-on-year.
The National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC)-recommended average farm-gate prices in July for the Delhi and NCR region so far have been Rs 6.11/piece against Rs 4.83/piece in July 2025, an increase of 26%.
An NECC official said higher bird mortality, a decline in egg production and rising costs due to cooler temperatures and other expenses have increased the cost of production as well as egg prices.
“While maize prices are expected to rise moderately due to El Nino conditions, soybean de-oiled cake prices are likely to remain stable given adequate supplies in the current fiscal. The remaining 10% of feed components — primarily vitamins and husk — are imported and will become costlier due to higher logistic expenses caused by the West Asia conflict,” Jayashree Nandakumar, director, Crisil, said.