M. H. Kawsar
Department of Poultry Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 2202, Bangladesh
S. D. Chowdhury
Department of Poultry Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 2202, Bangladesh
S. K. Raha
Department of Agribusiness and Marketing, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 2202, Bangladesh
M. M. Hossain
Department of Animal Science; Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 2202, Bangladesh
Small-scale broiler farming, Productive performance, Profitability, Constraints, Rural households
Mymensingh, Sherpur and Kishoreganj districts of Bangladesh
Farming System
Broiler producing areas of the Mymensingh, Sherpur and Kishoreganj districts of Bangladesh were considered as study areas. Data were collected from a total of 77 broiler farmers, of which 40 were in Mymensingh, 22 in Sherpur and 15 in Kishoreganj. A semi-structured questionnaire was prepared, pre-tested and finalized before interviewing the farmers. Before the collection of data, the objectives of the study were clearly explained to each of the participants. All possible care was taken to obtain accurate and reliable data. The collected data were then edited and categorized into farm sizes (100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 flock sizes). Among 77, three had 100 birds, 12 had 200 birds, four had 300 birds, 17 had 400 birds, 30 had 500 birds and 11 had 600 birds, which were treated as small-scale broiler farms. The data were collected from November 2009 to February 2010 on a regular basis. Broiler performance was determined on the basis of benefit-cost ratio (BCR). It was measured with the following formula: BCR = Benefit / by cost. Benefits = total earnings from broiler farming per bird / batch during recent past year, Costs = total costs incurred in broiler farming per bird/ per batch. The observed performance ranged from 0.72 to 1.45 with the mean and standard error (SE) of 1.039 and 0.017 respectively. The broiler farms were classified into four categories on the basis of their performance in broiler production as shown. Findings revealed that an overwhelming majority of the farms (81%) had very low to low performance, 17% showed medium and only 3% had high performance and these performances increased with the size of the farm. Obviously, various factors related to production performance and constraints might have influenced these results. Eleven characteristics of broiler-producing farmers were considered for this study: age, education, occupation, land possessions, family size, marital status, family income, training on farming, farming experience, farm size and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Education of the broiler farmers was measured in terms of formal years of schooling. Land possession was determined by the area of land on which the farmer carried the agricultural operations including homesteads, and was expressed in acres. The number of family members determined the working units of the farm. Annual family income was measured by the total yearly earnings from different sources by the members of a broiler farmer's family. Broiler farming experience was measured by the actual years of involvement. Farm size was determined by the number of birds reared in a unit. To determine the relationship between the performances of broilers with their selected factors, a Pearson product moment correlation analysis was conducted. The results revealed that out of 11 selected factors, education, land possessions, family income, training exposure, broiler farm size and extension contact had significant positive relationships with broiler performance. To determine the severity of the problems faced by the farmers in broiler production, a problem faces index (PFI) and rank order was used. PFI of each problem was determined by using the following formula (as used by Ali, 2008): PFI =3 ×fs +2× fm +1 fl+0×fn Where, fs = Number of broiler producing farmers faced severe problem, fm =Number of broiler producing farmers faced moderate problem, fl = Number of broiler producing farmers faced little problem, fn = Number of broiler producing farmers faced no problem, PFI was made with the 19 selected problems. PFI problems could range from 0 to 188, where 188 indicated severe problems and 0 indicated no problem. Rank order was made by the descending order of PFI of all the problems in order to compare the severity of problems.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271947808
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