Estimation of costs and returns of layer poultry units in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh

The present study attempts to assess the economics and profitability of layer poultry farming in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, focusing on costs and returns of layer poultry units. In total, 30 farms were considered for the study with three small, eleven medium and sixteen large layer poultry units using purposive random sampling. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect data from poultry farmers. The financial feasibility analysis reveals a positive net present value and benefit- cost ratio greater than one for small, medium and large layer poultry units, indicating economic viability. The internal rate of return for small firms is 39.15 per cent, while medium firms exhibit 72.07 per cent and large firms exhibit 78.03 per cent indicating substantial profitability in layer poultry units. Based on NPV, BCR and IRR, large layer farms were most profitable followed by medium and small layer farms. The layer had to produce a minimum of 22, 21 and 20 eggs in small, medium and large farms, respectively. The margin of safety stood at 277.51, 279.80 and 283.19 for small, medium and large farms, respectively. The higher margin of safety is on large farms over medium and small farms. The study revealed that poultry layer farming is a profitable business in West Godavari district.