College of Economics and Management, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
Department of Agricultural Economics and Finance, Mwalimu Julius. K. Nyerere University of Agriculture and Technology, Musoma, Tanzania.
PLoS One. 2022 Sep 13;17(9):e0274391. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274391. eCollection 2022.
In Tajikistan, owning beef cattle is an important survival mechanism for smallholder farmers to alleviate poverty. Therefore, beef cattle farming enterprises should indeed strive to maximize profit to excel and flourish in a free economy. Nevertheless, smallholder beef cattle farmers are known for making little profit. Thus, this study was set to evaluate the profitability of beef cattle farming and its determinants to enhance profit maximization among smallholder beef cattle farmers in the Baljovan District of Khatlon region, Tajikistan. A total of 388 farming households were chosen at random and purposive for the study. The cross-sectional data collected using questionnaires was analyzed by using descriptive, gross margin (GM), and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models. Based on the descriptive analyses, the mean age of beef cattle farmers was 52.73 years, with a household size of 7.07 members. The beef cattle farmers had an average of 18.23 cattle herd size with 8.54 years of farming experience. The average land area possessed by farmers was 10.59 hectares. Among farmers, men (98.2%) dominated beef cattle farming activities. Around 83.8% of farmers had a college grade (higher literacy). Besides, around 89.4% of farmers had access to farm credits. However, only 71.4% of farmers used farm credit points to produce beef cattle. Most of the farmers (89.7%) had access to accurate market information. Such market information enabled 75.8% of farmers to sell their beef cattle to open market (profitable) outlets rather than middlemen. About 89.4% had access to veterinary services. Additionally, about 82.7% of farmers acknowledged the availability of pasture for grazing, which motivated 87.6% of farmers to be involved in selling contracts. Furthermore, economic investigation results revealed that on average, farmers had a gross margin (GM-profit) of 353.77 US$ per cattle, with feed costs (58.6%) and medications costs (26.1%) accounting for the largest share of total variable costs. Meanwhile, the profitability of beef cattle farming among farmers was significantly influenced by education level, family size, farming experience, pasture availability, land size owned, selling contract, feed costs, medications expenses, access to credits, and sales costs (P < 0.05). This study concluded that beef cattle production is a feasible business. However, the potential for increased profitability is significant if existing resources are efficiently coordinated and production expenses, notably feed and healthcare costs, are minimized. Thus, the government should develop additional measures for addressing concerns such as capacity building, suitable and freely available pasture as well as health management, to boost beef cattle profitability among farmers in Tajikistan.
在塔吉克斯坦，拥有肉牛是小农缓解贫困的重要生存机制。因此，肉牛养殖企业确实应该努力实现利润最大化，以在自由经济中脱颖而出。然而，小农养牛户的利润微薄。因此，本研究旨在评估肉牛养殖的盈利能力及其决定因素，以提高塔吉克斯坦哈特隆地区巴尔若万区小农肉牛养殖的利润最大化。共有 388 户农户被随机选择并进行了专门研究。使用问卷收集的横截面数据使用描述性、毛利润 (GM) 和普通最小二乘法 (OLS) 回归模型进行了分析。根据描述性分析，肉牛养殖户的平均年龄为 52.73 岁，家庭规模为 7.07 人。肉牛养殖户的牛群平均规模为 18.23 头，养殖经验为 8.54 年。农民平均拥有的土地面积为 10.59 公顷。在农民中，男性（98.2%）主导着肉牛养殖活动。约 83.8%的农民具有大专学历（较高的文化程度）。此外，约 89.4%的农民可以获得农业信贷。然而，只有 71.4%的农民利用农业信贷点来生产肉牛。大多数农民（89.7%）可以获得准确的市场信息。这种市场信息使 75.8%的农民能够将他们的肉牛出售到公开市场（盈利）渠道，而不是中间商。约 89.4%的农民可以获得兽医服务。此外，约 82.7%的农民承认有放牧的牧场，这促使 87.6%的农民参与销售合同。此外，经济调查结果显示，农民平均每头牛的毛利润（GM-利润）为 353.77 美元，其中饲料成本（58.6%）和药物成本（26.1%）占总可变成本的最大份额。同时，农民的肉牛养殖盈利能力受到教育水平、家庭规模、养殖经验、牧场可用性、土地规模、销售合同、饲料成本、药物费用、信贷获取以及销售成本的显著影响（P < 0.05）。本研究得出的结论是，肉牛生产是一项可行的业务。然而，如果能够有效地协调现有资源并最大限度地降低生产成本，特别是饲料和医疗保健成本，那么提高盈利能力的潜力是巨大的。因此，政府应制定其他措施来解决能力建设、合适且免费的牧场以及健康管理等问题，以提高塔吉克斯坦农民的肉牛盈利能力。
