Production Performance, Income and Employment Generation through Broiler Business: Revelations in Morena District of Madhya Pradesh

Background: In most developing countries poultry farming is owned by small business owners, farmers and their families. The broiler industry has fewer climate restrictions and more adaptability and in this sector entrepreneurial activities are still unexplored in India. The purpose of this study was to look into the production performance, income and employment generation of broiler production in Morena district of M.P. Methods: The broiler farms of the Morena district were identified with the help of Veterinary department personnel, commercial hatchery persons and poultry feed manufacturers and a list of 50 farms, was prepared. The list was arranged in the ascending order of the number of birds kept on a farm. From this list, 30 such farms were selected that were continuously in production for at least one year and where proper records were maintained. The list was divided into three categories based upon the number of birds viz. small farm group (below 1999 birds), medium farm group (2000 to 4999 birds) and large farm group (5000 and above birds). 5 farms were selected randomly from each farm category. Information was gathered by visiting selected chicken farms and interviewing the owners using a prepared questionnaire. The research study was conducted under the Department of A.H. and Dairying, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj (U.P.). The data were collected for the duration 2019-20. Results: The present study documented the mean feed conversion ratio, mean Livability percent, mean weight and age at marketing of broilers as 1.83, 95.82 percent, 2.38 kg and 43.8 days respectively for sample as a whole. The average total cost per bird was Rs 161.35. The gross return and net return per bird is found as Rs 185.27 and Rs 23.92 respectively. The benefit-cost ratio is worked out to be 1.15 for the sample as a whole. Rs 6.84 is spent on labour per bird in one production cycle of 56 days. Thus Rs 65664 per farm is spent on employment of labour in 56 days. On the basis of 8 hours working, 3.43 persons have been employed per farm. The statistical analysis using ANOVA found that there is a significant relationship between income and farm size, BCR and farm size.