Department of Animal Husbandry Economics, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai – 600 007, India
A study was carried out to analyse the trend, seasonal and spatial variations in wholesale and retail egg prices in major market centres of South India. The data on monthly average wholesale NECC prices of egg from major market centres of South India viz., Namakkal, Hyderabad, Nellore, Vijayawada and Mysore and monthly average retail NECC prices of egg from major consumption centres of South India viz., Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai for the period from August 2000 to July 2009 were collected from various secondary sources. The slope of linear trend equations revealed that the wholesale egg price hiked at rate of four-fifth of a paise per month. The retail egg price trend equation fitted for major consumption centres of South India revealed that the egg price had increased by 0.79 to 0.81 paise per egg. The intercept of trend equations was more (Rs. 99.84 to 107.05) for retail price when compared to the wholesale price (Rs. 92.33 to 96.79). The monthly price indices of egg price in various market centres of South India inferred that the price indices of all the observed centres coincides with each other over various months. The monthly egg price index was observed to be the minimum during the months of March and April and started increasing to reach peak during the month of June. Further, it started decreasing and reached lower value during the months of August and September. The monthly price index was found to increase to reach higher index values during the months of November to January. The seasonal wholesale/retail egg price index was found to be the highest during the month of November and December and the lowest during the month of April.
Egg price, Trend, Seasonal Variation Spatial Variations
