Abstract
The study aimed at examining the production and supply chain of poultry feed in Bangladesh and
the relevant policy and performance. To fulfill the objectives of the study, 30 feed mills categorized
as; high, medium and low quality on the basis of feed conversion ratio (FCR) from Dhaka, Gazipur,
Narsingdi, Kishoreganj and Mymensingh districts were purposively selected. In addition, 45 dealers,
15 sub-dealers and 120 poultry farmers those who purchased feeds from the selected feed mills were
also surveyed. The policies and other relevant information were collected from National Livestock
Policy (NLDP) 2007, National Poultry Development Policy 2008 and other publications of DLS.
Primary data were collected by direct interview method, focus group discussion (FGD) and key
informants' interview (KII) during 2013 to 2014. Data were analyzed as per objectives of the study.
The SWOT analysis, Likert Scale methods and AOAC (2000) methods were applied in this study. The
ME value of compound feed, profitability analysis, Cobb-Douglas production function, resource use efficiency analysis and the financial analysis were done. The stakeholders' problems were identified
for both poultry feed mills and farms by the Constraints Facing Index (CFÌ). Evidence showed that
national poultry development policy was mostly concentrated on quality control of inputs for
sustainable poultry development and focussed on health, trade, quality and safety; and food security
and malnutrition. The findings of SWOT analysis on the poultry development policy it was observed
that 80% stakeholders' reported that the development scope of feed industry was well defined but
92% of stakeholders' thought that poultry development policies are well documenting it but implementation should be address properly. They also reported that easy credit support by the Government is necessary for development of poultry feed business. The analyses of nutritional
composition of broiler feed, the analytical value of MÉ value were more than manufacturers' value
due to mixing the adulteration in poultry feed. The feed production cost was estimated Tk. 39295, Tk.
38643 and Tk. 37218 per metric tonne (MT) respectively for high, medium and low quality feed mills.
The cost of high quality feed mills was more than medium and low quality feed and the gross return
was Tk. 43160, Tk. 42330 and Tk. 40500 per MT respectively for high, medium and Yow quality
studied feed mills. The gross margin was Tk. 6486, Tk. 5957and Tk. 5285 per MT and net return were
Tk. 3865, Tk. 3687and Tk. 3279 per MT respectively. It indicates that gross return, gross margin and
net return of high quality feed mill was more than the medium and low quality feed mill. The total
cost of broiler production was Tk. 1106018; Tk. 983253 and Tk. 965788 per farm/year respectively for high, medium and low quality feed intake farms which indicate that the broiler production cost of
high quality feed intake farms was more than medium and low quality feed intake farms. The gross
return were Tk. 1572635; Tk. 1290520 and Tk. 1214780 per farm/year and gross margin were Tk. 431347; Tk. 294977 and Tk. 222131 and net return were Tk.331806; Tk. 1081578 and Tk. 144868 per farm/year. The highest rank of high quality feed was observed and it indicates that high quality
feeds performance was higher than the medium and low quality feed. Six variables were included in
the Cobb-Douglas model and the results indicated that if the supply of quality of raw materials
increased in low and medium quality feed mills, their efficiency would increase. It was also found
that the four variables out of six, the ratio of MVP and MFC were less than one which indicated that
the resources were over utilized for high and three input out of six underutilized for medium and
low quality feed mill that means there opportunities to increase other variables for increasing output.
In case of broiler production, five out of seven variables included in the model were statistically
significant in explaining the variation. It is evident that the quality feed is an important factor for poultry farming. It was also found that the three variables out of seven, the ratio of MVP and MFC
were less than one which indicated that the resources were underutilized in overall broiler
production. These inequalities indicate that the farmers in the study areas have failed to show their efficiency in using all the resources. The results of financial analysis of poultry feed mills showed that
the rate of return of high, medium and low quality feed mills were 64.97%, 50.21% and 31.39% respectively which is greater than the normal bank rate. Even though if the price of feed decreased by
10% the IRR were 35.26%, 33.42% and 13.24% respectively and if the price of raw materials increased by 10% the IRR were 44.90%, 38.13% and 12.70% respectively for high, medium and low quality feed mills. It means the low quality feed mills could not survive in the market. It is also evident that about 60% of raw materials were purchased from Dinajpur, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Jamalpur and coastal area
such as Bagerhat, Chittagong and Khulna where 100% of feed additives were imported. The study
identified the constraints of the feed millers and these are unavailability of raw materials, working
capital and feed sale by credit. The constraints of the poultry farmers werere identified as high price of feed, DOC and lack of working capital. If these problems could be solved within a reasonable time
both the feed millers and poultry farmers would be benefitted and the poultry industry will be more developed.