Assessing the Productivity of BLRI-Developed Native Ducks at the Community Level Compared to Indigenous Ducks in Conventional Farming Systems

Abstract

Duck farming is a profitable business in low-lying areas of Bangladesh. The present study aimed to disseminate Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI) developed native ducks BLRI-1(Rupali) and BLRI-2 (Nageswari) and validate their production ability compared to indigenous ducks under existing farming conditions in Bhanga upazila of Faridpur. An experiment was done at the community level where 45 farmers were selected based on their duck type. Data on the productive potentials of BLRI-developed native ducks were recorded and compared with the local germplasm of ducks. Among 45 duck-rearing farmers, with an average age of 38.58 years and farming experience of 12.38 years. Ducks were raised under scavenging conditions where 82.2% of farmers used separate duck houses and regular house cleaning was practiced by 68.89% of farmers. Ducks were consistently fed paddy, rice, and rice bran whereas 82.2% of farmers provided supplement feed with duckweed, and 15.6% supplied ready-made feed. The highest growth performance was observed for Rupali ducks growing to 1505.62 g by 24 weeks, compared to 1486.07 g for Nagesawri ducks. The highest egg production was 192.00 ± 5.70 eggs in Nageswari ducks followed by 181.33 ± 7.55 eggs for Rupali. Statistically significant differences were observed in adult male and female weights, eggs per clutch, and egg weight among the three breeds. Most of the farmer (84.4%) vaccinate their duck, against Duck Plague and Duck Cholera. The highest incidences of Duck Plague and Duck Cholera were observed in Native duck farms in comparison to BLRI-developed duck farms. Farmers obtained the highest Net income 8149.00 BDT (68.04 USD) and Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) of 1.60 in Rupali ducks compared to the Indigenous ducks at 1.30 whereas the overall BCR in duck rearing was 1.49. Major constraints regarding duck farming were disease outbreaks (73.3%) and high feed prices (64.4%). Thus, the study highlighted the significant variations in the performance and economic viability of ducks and emphasized farmers’ training and breed-specific management strategies such as improved housing; feeding, and disease management practices to boost the profitability of duck farming.