Energy efficiency and econometric analysis of broiler production farms

The objective of this study was to determine the energy consumption per 1000 bird for the broiler production in Yazd province, Iran. The data were collected from 44 farms by using a face-to-face questionnaire method during January-February 2010. The collected information was analyzed using descriptive statistics, economic analysis and stochastic frontier production function. The production technology of the farmer was assumed to be specified by the Cobb-Douglas (CD) production function. Total input energy was found to be 186,885.87 MJ (1000 bird)(-1) while the output energy was 27,461.21 MJ (1000 bird)(-1). The values of specific energy and energy ratio were calculated at 71.95 MJ kg(-1) and 0.15, respectively. The sensitivity of energy inputs was estimated using the marginal physical productivity (MPP) method. The MPP value showed the high impact of human labor and machinery energy inputs on output energy. Returns to scale (RTS) values for broiler were found to be 0.96; thus, there prevailed a decreasing RTS for the estimated model. The net return was found positive, as 1386.53 $ (1000 bird)(-1) and the benefit to cost ratio from broiler production was calculated to be 1.38. The study revealed that production of meat was profitable in the studied area. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.