3 months ago
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With the main tourism season having ended in April, egg farmers are praying for a more favourable hurricane season this year so that they can fully supply the country including the hoteliers with eggs for the second half of the year.
President of the Jamaica Egg Farmers Association Mark Campbell says several egg producers are currently replacing their older birds with younger ones which will improve the rate of delivery of the important breakfast item.
“A number of farmers across the island are getting new layers. These new layers are the big performers; their productivity can go up as high as 95 percent (95 eggs per day per 100 birds),” Campbell said.
The veteran egg farmer explained that when egg production falls below 70 percent, the business is no longer viable and the ageing birds need to be replaced with younger ones which start laying at 18 weeks old.
Thousands of layers were lost during Hurricane Beryl last July, and those that survived were not very productive as they were said to be showing signs of stress.
But between now and November, between 600,000 and 700,000 new birds will be brought into the system, Campbell said.
These he said represent about 65 percent of the national flock which amounts to around one million birds.
“If those (new birds) come in and if the others hold their own, and there is no fallout in production, like a hurricane to affect the birds or other major events, things should be back on track,” a cautious Campbell told the Financial Gleaner.
“A lot depends on the weather, the hurricane season. So, I ask you to pray for us while we pray for ourselves,” Campbell said.
STRUGGLE WITH SHORTAGE
The country struggled with a shortage of eggs during the Christmas season when the demand for the product increased. However with the main tourist season over, the supply of approximately 650,000 eggs per day is just barely keeping up with the demand.
“The demand is not as strong as during the peak period of December through to the end of April. The supply is still not good enough, we are still in a tight spot, but the pressure on the suppliers has eased a bit,” Campbell.
Meanwhile nutritionist Dr Suzanne Soares-Wynter, Clinical Nutritionist at the Caribbean Institute of Health and Research, University of the West Indies says that consumption of eggs per capita in Jamaica has been one of the lowest in the region.
Dr Soares-Wynter shared data on egg consumption from the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, FAO, Caribbean Poultry Association symposium held last week, May 13-14, in Kingston.
According to the 2021 data from the FAO, Jamaicans consumed about 3.5 kilogrammes of eggs per capita per year. This rate was only higher than Haiti (less than 1 kg) and way below Grenada (19.7 kg), Dominican Republic (16.5 kg) and the Bahamas (13 kg).
Countries with high consumption levels of eggs include China (22 kg), Mexico (21.4 kg) Japan (19.8 kg) and the Netherlands (19.6 kg).
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