Estimation of Technical Efficiency of Broiler Farms in District Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

This study was carried out to estimate technical efficiency of broiler farms in district Mardan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to collect data from 150 broiler farmers. A well-structured interview schedule was used with both close and open-ended questions. Data from broiler farmers were collected during April and May 2016. Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) technique was used for estimation of stochastic frontier Cobb-Douglas type production function. Results indicated the mean technical efficiency of 0.89 with the range of 0.63 to 0.97. This implies that farmers having average technical efficiency level can increase broiler output by 8% to reach to the frontier output by using best management practices with available farm resources and technology. Results further revealed that day old checks, feed intake and labor have positive and significant effect on broiler output. Technical inefficiency results showed that estimated coefficients of age of broiler farmers, education and experience were negative and statistically significant. This means that with the increase in age of broiler farmers, education and experience, technical inefficiency decreases. It is recommended that broiler farmers needs to increase the number of day old chicks according to the capacity of shed as well as feed to the broilers to accelerate production and efficiency. Moreover, government also needs to educate broiler farmers and provide trainings specific to rearing of broilers for efficient utilization of resources for enhancing productivity and efficiency.