A study on profitability of broiler production in Vavuniya district

Abstract

Nowadays broiler production has developed and occupies a place of pride among the livestock enterprises due to its rapid monetary turnover. Broiler farming is a growing industry in Sri Lanka. The price of broiler meat depends on various factors including cost of production, location, marketing channel and demand and supply of broiler meat. The main objective of this study was to identify the factors affecting the cost of broiler production and to suggest potential ways to reduce the cost of broiler production in Vavuniya district. A field survey was carried out by using pre-tested questionnaire on the cost and return of broiler meat production in the Vavuniya district. One hundred and fifty farmers were selected from the district for the study by using stratified random sampling method. The highest amount of cost has been for pre- mixed feed which was estimated to be 69% of the total cost of a batch, while 22% of the total cost accounted for the breeding materials (day old chicks). The labour cost represented 5% of the total cost. The veterinary cost and miscellaneous cost represented 1.2% and 2%, respectively per batch. The average fixed cost accounted for 0.8% of the total cost per batch. Average cost of production and net profit per kilogram of live broiler bird were Rs. 171.92 and Rs. 19.51, respectively. When labour cost was not included, the profit margin was raised to Rs.28.20. Disease incidence was not a major threat to broiler industry in this district. The average mortality rate of broiler was 4.3% and facilitating the desirable range. The average price of a kilogram of live weight broiler was Rs.200.00. The average flock size per batch in the Vavuniya district was 70±43.9. The results revealed that there was a high potential to expand the broiler industry in the profitable manner owing to lower mortality rate, involvement of family labour, good hygienic practices and lack of disease prevalence. It was suggested that the profitability of the industry could be increased by using locally available agro industrial by- products and better utilization of spent broiler litter.