Economic efficiency of goat farming in cauvery delta zone of Tamil Nadu

Abstract

A study was conducted to analyse the economic and technical efficiency of goat farming in Cauvery Delta zone of Tamil Nadu, India. The primary data were collected by interviewing 180 goat farmers selected by multi-stage random sampling using pre-tested interview schedules during January to April 2017. The sample comprised of 87 small farmers (<5 goats), 78 medium farmers (6 to 15 goats) and 15 large farmers (>15 goats). The total fixed investments for goat farming were Rs. 14055.16 (small farmer), Rs. 29136.40 (medium farmer) and Rs. 70826.60 (large farmer). The total gross returns per farm for the above categories were Rs. 6241.94, Rs. 9607.04 and Rs. 12910.11, respectively. Overall, goat farming yielded a total return and net return of Rs. 10496.38 and Rs. 6248.92 per farm per annum, respectively. The break-even analysis revealed that small farmers required to produce 20.60 kg of chevon annually to reach break-even point, 51.02 kg and 222.96 kg by medium and large farmers, respectively. The ratio of marginal value product (MVP) to marginal factor cost (MFC) for flock size, labour charges, medicine and vaccination charges were more than unity in all the categories of the farms, which indicated under-utilization of resources. The stochastic frontier production function analysis revealed that labour charges had significant (p<0.01) positive influence on the chevon production in all categories of farms. The average technical efficiencies were 74.65,83.41,86.54 and 80.36% in small, medium, large and overall categories of farms respectively. The sub-optimal technical and resource use efficiency warrants scientific management practices among goatfarmers.