In 2013-14, the gross value added from India’s livestock sector was about 34% of that from crops. In 2023-24, the last year for which official data is available, that ratio touched 57%. Simply put, the value of milk, egg, meat and other animal products from Indian farms is steadily approaching that of crops — be it foodgrains, oilseeds, sugarcane and cotton or vegetables, fruits and spices.
This progress is, however, being undermined by spiralling feed ingredient costs.
Poultry, cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats and pigs need carbohydrates. It is their principal source of energy, supplied mostly by maize. Broiler chicken feed contains 55-65% maize by weight, with these at 50-60% for egg-laying bird feed and 15-20% in cattle feed.
Carbohydrates apart, livestock require proteins, minerals (such as calcium and phosphorous), vitamins, dietary fibre, fat (oil) synthetic amino acids (methionine and lysine) and other additives. Proteins come mainly from the solid residual cakes/meal after oil is extracted from soyabean, mustard, groundnut, sunflower and cottonseed or rice bran. Broiler feed formulations have 25-30% soyabean meal, while 18-20% for layer feed. Oilseed cakes and meals make up 40-50% by weight in compound cattle feeds.
Soaring costs
The accompanying charts show that the average price of maize at the Alangeyam market of Tamil Nadu’s Erode district has gone up from Rs 2,537 to Rs 2,759 per quintal between August 2025 and August 2026, and further to Rs 2,810 now.
The increase is even more pronounced from March 2026.
Prices of soyabean meal (50% protein content) at Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, based on quotes at the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, have risen from Rs 38,186 per tonne in August 2025 to Rs 58,156 in August 2026. They have fallen to Rs 50,000 per tonne this month, but are still way above the September 2025 average of Rs 35,327.
The same goes for other protein sources. Groundnut and rapeseed oilcakes are currently trading at Rs 38,000 and Rs 33,100 per tonne respectively, as against their corresponding September 2025 average price of Rs 24,188 and Rs 24,479, according to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India. So are cottonseed (Rs 35,500 versus Rs 30,500) and rice bran (Rs 20,500 versus Rs 13,669) extractions.
“Soybean meal prices have come off their Rs 63,000-64,000 peak. But just when they are easing, maize prices are hardening. It’s almost like a ping-pong game being played,” noted Divya Kumar Gulati, chairman of CLFMA (formerly Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers Association) of India.
The impact
The effects are already visible.
Egg prices in Delhi are at Rs 600 per 100 pieces, as per the indicative poultry farmgate rates set by the National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC). Retail prices are ruling at Rs 7-9 per egg, depending whether they are purchased in 30-piece crates, dozens or smaller lots.
Egg demand and prices generally go up post-Diwali, with the setting in of winter and through the spring season. They drop with the rising temperatures and humidity levels over the summer and early monsoon months. The real dip happens in the festival period — from Shravan (end-July to early-September), Pitru Paksha (late-September to early-October) and Navratri (mid-October), to Diwali and Chhath Puja (early to mid-November) — when many Hindu households avoid eggs.
This year, the NECC-suggested prices scaled Rs 725-730 per 100 eggs even in July, with the average of Rs 670.5 a whopping 38.7% higher than last year (see table). “Many things came together. The extended summer and delayed monsoon rains due to El Niño caused water shortages, leading to heat stress and rising bird mortality rates. Also, July witnessed spike in both maize and soyabean meal prices,” explained Sanjeev Chintawar, chief operating officer of NECC.
While egg prices have since softened, thanks to Shravan, the feed cost challenge remains. “In the last four months, layer feed prices have climbed from Rs 24-26 to Rs 30-32 per kg. Feed constitutes 65-70% of the farmer’s egg production cost,” added Chintawar.
Farmgate broiler chicken prices, too, hit Rs 150-plus per kg of live weight across North India in late-June/early-July. Post Shravan, they have settled at around Rs 115-120 per kg.
“Broiler feed prices have surged from Rs 40 to Rs 46/kg over the past four months, shrinking the profit margins of farmers. Their total production cost now is roughly Rs 110 per kg,” said Ricky Thaper, joint secretary of the Poultry Federation of India.
Farmers raise day-old chicks weighing 35-45 gm to 2-2.5 kg slaughter-ready broiler birds over 35-42 days. The cycle is longer for layer hens. These begin laying eggs at 18-20 weeks of age and do so until they are 70-72 weeks old. Each bird lays 250-300 eggs annually.
Looking ahead
Soyabean meal prices have come down somewhat in the last couple of weeks.
This is partly because farmers have sown almost the same area under soyabean in the current kharif (monsoon) season as last year. The condition of the crop, due for harvesting in October-November, is also said to be normal to good so far, with no major insect pest or disease incidence being reported.
El Niño’s impact has been less in soybean relative to other crops, which require more water and fertilisers. Further, some large Indian poultry companies with captive feed manufacturing facilities have contracted soyabean imports, which are estimated at 0.9 million tonnes (mt) in 2025-26 (October-September). It has improved the carryover stocks and likely availability for the new marketing year.
“Our greater concern is maize, where kharif acreage is significantly down (4.1%, going by government data) and the yield outlook isn’t also encouraging. Moreover, El Niño could hurt the prospects for the rabi (winter-spring) maize crop,” CLFMA’s Gulati pointed out.
The US Department of Agriculture has projected India’s maize production in 2026-27 at 50 mt, a sharp decline from the record 55.1 mt of 2025-26, which itself was a substantial jump over the preceding year’s 43.4 mt.
With sugar prices on the boil, the Narendra Modi government is expected to restrict mills from using any cane juice or high sucrose ‘B-heavy’ molasses for manufacturing ethanol in the upcoming crushing year beginning October.
If maize prices continue to rise — spilling over into livestock feed costs and ultimately what consumers pay for milk, eggs and meat — there could be a review of even diversion of the feed grain for ethanol production. That would make meeting the existing 20% blending in petrol (E20) itself difficult in 2026-27.
Retail prices are ruling at Rs 7-9 per egg, depending whether they are purchased in 30-piece crates, dozens or smaller lots. (Express file photo: Kamleshwar Singh) 
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