FINANCIAL PROFITABILITY AND RESOURCE USE EFFICIENCY OF BROILER FARMING IN A SELECTED AREA OF BANGLADESH

Abstract

In the agrarian and largely subsistence economy of Bangladesh, broiler plays a crucial role in supplying nutrition and generating income and employment opportunities. The present study was undertaken to investigate the socio-economic characteristics of the broiler farmers, to estimate the costs, returns and profitability of broiler enterprise and to determine the contribution of the key variables to the production of broiler farms. For achieving these objectives, 80 broiler farms were selected randomly from Dhamrai upazila of Dhaka District. Both tabular and econometric techniques were used to find out the results. Costs and returns were calculated separately through tabular analysis to find out the profitability of broiler production. The results of the analysis showed that on average total cost of broilers per farm per year was Tk. 301142.103. It was found that the variable cost per farm per year stood at Tk. 238728.73 which accounted for 79.28 percent of total cost. The total fixed cost per farm per year accounted to Tk. 62413.373. It is evident from the study that the gross return per farm per batch stood at Tk. 431400. The net return over total cost per farm per year was calculated at Tk. 130257.90. The benefit cost ratios of broiler farming were 1.80 on variable cost basis and 1.43 on total cost basis. Findings of the study clearly indicated that broiler production was a profitable enterprise. Cobb-Douglas production function analysis was used to estimate the contribution of the key variables of the production of broiler farms. The functional analysis indicated that most of the selected variables had significant impact on the production of broiler farms. This study also identified some economic, marketing, technical, social and natural problems in broiler production. Finally, on the basis of findings of this study, some recommendations were made for the development of broiler farming in Bangladesh.