Economic Analysis of Resources Use in Milk Production in Kuku Farms- East Nile- Khartoum- Sudan

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to analyze the resources use in dairy production inKuku farms and specifically to determine the main factors affecting technical inefficiency, to assess the optimum feeding combination and to identify the socio-economic factors that affect the level of efficiency of Farmers. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study purposes. Primary data were collected from a survey conducted in 2016/2017, through a random sampling technique using a sample of 85 farmers. The secondary data were collected from relevant sources. Descriptive Statistics, Technical Efficiency, linear Programming models, Gross Margins and ARIM Model were employed to analyze the collected data to achieve the study objectives. The descriptive statistics of the selected socio-economic characteristics showed that the average age of the sampled farmers was 36 years and 96.5% of them in the active age 18-65years. Most of the farmers 93% have attained some sort of education. All surveyed farms were managed by males; about 98% of the surveyed farmers were married. For the sampled farmers, the average family members work in farm was found to be 14 persons per household. The majority of the sampled farmers 64.7% have practiced for more than 10 years in the farms work. The sampled farmers69.4% were fully occupied with farms (i.e. had no off-farm activities).The frontier production function analysis revealed thatmost of the estimated B- co-efficients of the stochastic frontier model for all production models have the expected signs and significance.The mean technical efficiency was 60%, and 76% for small and large farms, respectively. This shows that there is scope for increasing small and large farms, dairy production lie by 40% and 24%, respectively, with present technology, herd size, labour number, amount of roughage and amount of concentrate, health expenditure, for dairy production were significant variables for improving technical efficiency. Farmers age, education level, experience years were significant in explaining technical inefficiency in Kuku farms. The result ofLP models revealed that the real feed plan was different from the basic plan; the net farmsfeed costin the optimal models was lessthan the current situation by42.15%.The budget analysis of dairy farms, large farms, had high cost than small farms. Large dairy farms had the higher gross margin than the small farms. For improvement of the technical efficiency of dairy production in the farm, the study recommended the improvement of extension services and supervision, more coordination between Kukudairy scheme manger and Ministry of Animal Resource and Ministry of Agriculture to solve the problems of animal health by improving the environment and cultivate forages to decrease the cost of feed, and adoption of the recommended improved technologies.