Impacts of Production Capacity, FCR, and Capacity Utilization on Broiler Production Costs in different climatic regions of Iran

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mohammad Amin GholamAzad
A. H. Chizari
Vahideh Ansari
Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Alborz, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Abstract
Population growth in developing countries, along with the rise of food insecurity and increasing pressure on limited resources, has increased the demand for affordable protein sources, particularly chicken meat. However, the rise in production expenses and economic fluctuations has created serious challenges for the cost of broiler production. In this context, identifying the determinants of the cost of broiler production is of great importance. This study investigates the effects of production capacity, feed conversion ratio (FCR), capacity utilization, and climatic conditions on the cost of broiler production in Iran. The dataset was obtained from the National Statistical Center of Iran and includes information on 4,643 broiler farms located in major producing provinces in 2015 and 2020. After data cleaning and outlier removal, variables including production capacity, climate, FCR, capacity utilization, end-of-period chicken ratio, ownership structure, energy consumption, and hatching frequency were analyzed using a cross-sectional model for 2020 and a pooled regression model for 2015 and 2020, with robust regression estimation. The results showed that production capacity, capacity utilization, end-of-period chicken ratio, and hatching frequency had negative and significant effects on the cost of broiler production, whereas FCR and energy consumption increased it. The findings also indicated that the cost of broiler production was significantly lower in humid regions than in arid, semi-arid, and moderate regions. Therefore, it is recommended that productivity evaluation should rely on performance-based indicators rather than nominal capacity alone. Moreover, support policies should be designed based on climatic conditions, effective capacity utilization, FCR improvement, flock survival, and energy management in broiler production units.
Keywords
Economies of Scale
FCR
Iran Poultry Industry
Interaction Terms
Robust regression
Subjects
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