Is indigenous chicken rearing still profitable for the rural poor? - A case study of Jinaighati of Sherpur District in Bangladesh

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the profits of indigenous chicken rearing under better management practices at the household level in Jinaghati upazila of Sherpur district. A total of 220 farm households surveyed, taking 110 each from project and non-project households during January to February 2015 by interviewing a structured questionnaire. It is evident that the number of chickens per project and non-project households was 15.13 and 10.89, respectively, of which 55.45% project and 35.00% non-project households had separate housing for chickens. Maximum family members in both project and non-project households were educated at the primary level. About 25.0% project and 18.18% non-project households provided purchased feed, and most of both households arranged special laying management for chickens and hatched eggs by the natural hatching system. Evidence also showed that 98.18% project households had training, whereas only 2.00% in the case of non-project households. The annual costs of production per bird were Tk. 149.32, Tk. 53.75, and Tk. 31.95 on a full cost, variable cost, and cash cost basis, respectively, in project households, whereas Tk. 141.62, Tk. 54.80, and Tk. 19.71, respectively, for the non-project household. The annual net return per bird over full cost, variable cost, and cash cost basis were Tk. 277.71, Tk. 373.29, and Tk. 395.08 for the project household and Tk. 244.02, Tk. 330.84, and Tk. 365.94 for the non-project households. Profit from chicken rearing per household per year was accounted for Tk. 4184.87 on a full-cost basis, Tk. 5630.92 on a variable cost, and Tk. 5977.63 on a cash cost basis in project households. On the other hand, the net return per year was accounted for Tk. 2649.87 on a full-cost basis, Tk. 3595.37 on a variable cost, and Tk. 3985.03 on a cash cost basis for the non-project household. The benefit-cost ratios (BCR) were 1.86, 6.95, and 12.37 on a full cost, variable cost, and cash cost, respectively, in project households and 1.72, 6.04, and 18.57 for the non-project households. Results from the regression analysis showed that the coefficients of housing, human labor, feed, equipment, transportation, and flock size were positive and significant at the 1.0% level, implying that a one-unit increase for these inputs, keeping other factors constant, would result in an increase in profit per year by 0.214, 0.44, 0.157, 0.150, 0.194, and 0.144 units, respectively, in project households. In non-project households, the coefficients of housing cost, labor cost, marketing charge, and age of the chicken keepers were positive and significant at the 5.0% and 1.0% level, implying that a one-unit increase for these inputs, keeping other factors constant, would result in an increase in profit per year by 0.230, 0.496, 0.430, and 0.158 units. The training of rural people for rearing indigenous chickens and management, feed, and flock size strongly influenced the profitability of indigenous chicken rearing, in addition to having a poultry shelter and purchased feeds for them.