FODDER PRODUCTION AT SAVAR DAIRY FARM: AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

Asia Triple HIn this study an attempt was made to determine the cost of producing fodders at Savar Dairy Farm (SDF). For this purpose, all seasonal fodders, such as Maize, Jowar, Cowpea and Oat and all perennial fodders, such as Para and Napier were studied. The highest acreage of land was allocated to high-land Para (33.8%) and the lowest acreage (2.7%) was devoted to Cowpea. Jowar attained the highest yield (74.2 tons) per hectare and Maize attained the lowest yield (25.8 tons/h). The highest cost per hectare was attributed to Jowar (TK. 20944.18) while the lowest cost was attributed to low-land para (TK. 10349.86). The cost of production of fodder per kilogram was the highest (TK. 0.66) for Maize and the lowest for Oat (TK. 0.24). The cost of production of low-land Para was much lower than that of high land Para. The per kilogram cost of silage production was the highest (TK. 0.71) for Maize and the lowest (TK. 0.31) was for Napier. The gross return analysis further showed that the highest net margin and B:C ratio were observed for Napier followed by Low-land Para, Jowar, Oat, Cowpea, High-land Para and Maize. Therefore, those fodders whose B:C ratios and yield/ha were higher should be allocated more area of land to stimulate increased returns to SDF in the future is suggested.