Abstract
The study was investigated the productivity and profitability between broiler farms with and without management interventions in different seasons of the year. In the first step, the socio-economic condition of small-scale broiler farmers was studied, the factors influencing profitability were analyzed and constraints to broiler farming at rural households were identified. For obtaining information from farmers who reared broiler in their own management, field level primary data were collected from a total of 77 broiler farmers by direct interviewing using a semi-structured questionnaire of which 40 in Mymensingh, 22 in Sherpur and 15 in Kishorgonj districts of Bangladesh. Collected data were edited and categorized into different flock sizes (100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 birds/flock). Among 77 farms, 03 had 100 birds, 12 had 200 birds, 04 had 300 birds, 17 had 400 birds, 30 had 500 birds and 11 had 600 birds capacity each. The data were collected during the year 2009-2010 on a regular basis. Data collected for productive performance and cost and returns were used to determine benefit cost ratio (BCR) and correlated between the selected factors affecting profitability of the farmers. The survey results showed that most of the small-scale broiler farmers were young, aged between 26 and 39 years and more than half of the farmers had secondary level (VI to X) of education. Most of the small-scale broiler farmers (74%) were not trained on the principles of broiler farming and they had inadequate communication with extension media. Majority (81%) of the farms showed very low to low performance, 17% shared medium and only 3% had high performance. The productive performances were found to increase with the increasing size of the flock. As observed in the field, the most important factors affecting profit in this study were the feed conversion ratio (FCR). It was also found that the flock size, training, education, faming experience, extension contact were the significant factors to determinants of profitability of small-scale broiler flock. Lack of quality chicks appeared to be a common complaint of the farmers and this constraint ranked first. Price instability of both chicks and live broilers was annoying to the farmers which ranked second among the constraints. Low price of live broiler, high feed cost and an interruption in feed supply ranked by turns third, fourth and fifth respectively. High feed cost and failure to obtain fair price of broiler affected profitability while interruption in feed supply affected productivity and eventually profitability. The other constraints reported by the farmers were lack of technical knowledge, improper bio-security of the flock, variation in feed quality, lack of access to credit, influence of middlemen in the marketing channel, power failure and lack of technical support for farming. In the second step, 36 interested farmers were randomly selected for experimentation in rural households with or without management intervention during the years 2010-2011 in three different seasons of the year (summer, rainy and winter) in rural households. Before commencement of the field trial, 18 farmers were allowed to manage their farms in their own way, while the rest of 18 farmers were trained on the basic principles of broiler operation and procedure of record keeping. Data for productive performance, cost of farming and returns were used to determine BCR. Data were statistically analyzed and comparisons of results were made between flocks with or without management intervention. Productive performance with respect to feed consumption and FCR significantly improved among the flock sizes. FCR improved as the flock size increased. When flocks of similar sizes were maintained at the rural households with intervention, overall FCR was improved. Performance was highest in winter, moderate in rainy and lowest in summer. BCR was found widened as the flock size increased for both types of flocks with or without intervention. Growth and economic performance showed similar trends during different seasons. Raising small flock up to 300birds without management intervention in winter resulted good performance was not profitable. When intervention like follow-up, continuous monitoring and technical advice was provided to farmers they were motivated to maintain hygiene and biosecurity of the flocks. Proper feeding strategy increased broiler productivity as well as profitability. Analysis of cost and returns showed that profitability was highest in summer, moderate in rainy and lowest in winter and cost of farming per bird significantly (P<0.01) decreased and return increased (P<0.01) as the flock sizes increased. It was concluded, that satisfactory productive performance is achievable and profitability may be improved from small-scale broiler farming at rural households of the farmers if management intervention is made. The cost and return analyses indicated that family poultry farmers may consider small unit with at least 500 birds for ensuring profitability. A number of constraints were identified during the course of field trials that hindered smooth operation of this enterprise in a profitable manner. The most important ones were low and unstable price of live broilers, high price of inputs, low quality of chicks, insufficient operating capital, poor knowledge base, etc. that yet to be addressed by the policy makers. Finally, some suggestions and recommendations were made to ensure productivity and profitability of small-scale commercial broiler farming in Bangladesh.