India, April 3 -- The animal husbandry department is considering developing its own egg brand to strengthen egg production and boost the income of poultry farmers in Maharashtra, said animal husbandry minister Pankaja Munde.

"While encouraging entrepreneurship in rural areas for poultry business development, we should develop the state's own egg brand, similar to how we developed milk brands like Aarey and Mahanand," Munde said on Wednesday while chairing a meeting on implementation of the 'Mukhyamantri Gramin Pashudhan Udyojakata Yojana'.

Maharashtra imports around 15 million eggs per day - nearly 50% of its daily egg requirement - from southern states, and the department will encourage poultry farmers in the state to close the gap by ...