An Evaluation of the Supportive Policies Regarding Egg Producers and Consumers in Iran

Government, support policies with regard to egg producers and consumers were investigated for a set of four (1st to 4th) Economic, Social, and Cultural Development plans (1989 - 2008).The supports regarding egg production were estimated through Producers and Consumers Support Estimate indicators (PSE & CSE respectively). The results indicated, that support of producers in the First, Third and Fourth Development Plans were tangible, whereas the were not so for the 2nd development plan. Also, government’s budgetary supports for egg producers decreased from First to Third Development Plan whereas they were on the increase during the Fourth development plan. Among the government’s budgetary supports, the maximum amount (62 percent of total development budget) went to energy subsidies. So, in the course of an implementation of purposivism of subsidies, supports for producers will be significantly reduced, while production costs will increase. It is there fore necessary to adopt appropriate policies to reduce costs. Furthermore, the results revealed, (according to %CSE), support for egg consumers during the whole period had a positive trend, with a maximum support of 79 percent implemented during the second development program.