A research on the determination of production and marketing efficiency in goose breeding: A case study of Kars province

Goose breeding is an important economic activity in many countries around the world. In addition to goose meat, the production and trade of by-products such as liver and feather from goose are widespread in the world. On the other hand, despite its high production potential, sufficient progress has not been achieved in a geese breeding in Turkey. In terms of directing the entrepreneurs to goose breeding, it is important to determine the relative profitability of this branch of production as well as the efficiency of production and marketing. The main purpose of this study is to determine the production and marketing efficiency of goose breeding farms. In this context, a survey was conducted with 90 goose producers in the Merkez, Arpaçay and Susuz districts in the province of Kars. Data Envelopment Analysis was used to calculate production efficiency in goose breeding. Marketing efficiency was calculated using Acharya's Modified Marketing Efficiency formula. The average age of the interviewed producers was about 46 years. The majority of producers (89%) were women. Approximately 97% of goose producers with low educational level (61% of whom were primary school graduates) were engaged in vegetable production or animal husbandry. 43% of the producers were also engaged in non-agricultural activities. The most important factors that the producers considered when deciding to goose breeding were to provide high income and meet domestic meat consumption, respectively. In general, goose farms consume a small part of their goose and market a large part of it. It was determined that domestic consumption was higher in small farms. When the goose farms were examined in terms of relative profit, it was seen that the average price obtained by goose producers did not cover the cost. In general, the price obtained corresponds to 37% of the cost in live goose and 41% in fresh and dried goose. The low relative profitability of goose farms is considered to be risky in terms of economic sustainability of goose breeding. In all three types of production, it was found that the relative profit rate was the highest in large goose farms. In traditional marketing conditions, the marketing efficiency index of goose producers in fresh goose was calculated as 5.60 on average. It was seen that the highest marketing efficiency index was in large goose farms. The fact that the marketing efficiency index is greater than 1 in different enterprise scales shows us that goose farms work effectively in marketing. While the average technical efficiency score for the goose farms examined was 81.29% in output-oriented, 84.91% in input-oriented. The ratio of farms that were fully effective in both output and input orientation was 25.56%. Although the average technical efficiency of the investigated farms was high, the rate of fully effective farms was quite low. According to the potential improvement rates, goose breeding farms should control feed, labor and veterinary and medicine costs in order to achieve full efficiency. In addition, it is considered important to review production techniques and marketing strategies in order to increase output from goose breeding.