Economics of beef cattle production in selected areas of Bangladesh
Md. Mamun Or Rashid and Md. Kamruzzaman
Date : 2015-11-19 Volume : 7

Almost all beef cattle in the study area were produced by small-holder farmers. The beef cattle were raised in an extensive way for use some draught power and wealth accumulation purposes. Inputs availability is a major challenge for farmers associated with their poor resource use efficiency which limits beef cattle productivity. This study reports a survey which was conducted to describe the beef cattle production elasticity and resource use efficiency of small-scale farmers in Bangladesh. Eighty farmers raising beef cattle in Sirajgong and Gazipur districts were randomly selected for an interview in 2011. On average the interviewed farmers raised 9 beef cattle per household. A herd size of at least 5.66 and 20.4 number of beef cattle head in Gazipur and Sirajgonj was required to cover the cost of production at the prevailing prices. Among sample farmers, Gazipur farmers gave higher amount of feed to their beef cattle, compared to farmers of Sirajgonj. The production costs per beef cattle head were the highest in Gazipur mainly due to higher input use and lower number of beef cattle. The annual net return per beef cattle head was estimated at Tk.-576.14 and Tk.-2 919.27 in Gazipur and seajgonj respectively. The undiscounted benefit cost ratios (BCR) were 0.98 and 0.91 in Gazipur and Sirajgonj over total cost respectively. Therefore, the beef cattle farmers had ample opportunities to increase output by using more of those inputs. A positive relationship between farm size and amount of feed use was found in the study areas. 1440905347.php