Appendix 2
Prices used in the calculation of the value of livestock production in Bangladesh

Large ruminants

Manure: price was calculated using two methods, namely (1) the firewood equivalent method, and (2) the market price for wet manure sold for use as fertilizer. Both methods provide similar prices for dry manure

For the firewood equivalent method the value of dried dung was assumed to be equivalent to the cost of firewood which was sold in the market. Firewood was sold in the market for Tk300 for 80 kg (Tk3.75 per kg).

In the market, wet manure is sold for Tk150 per pushcart. The contents of the pushcart weigh approximately 80 kg. This method produces a price of Tk1.875 per kg for wet manure. On the assumption of 60% moisture content in the manure, this would be equivalent to Tk4.6875 per kg dry weight. The lower price using the firewood equivalent method was used due to uncertainties over the weight of the pushcart.

Price for draught power

Two indirect methods were considered to estimate the price for draught power hire. These were: (1) the value of milk production forgone due to the use of cows as draught animals, and (2) the rickshaw equivalent method.

Under the first method, it was assumed that a cow used for draught will have a reduced in milk production of 1.5 litres of milk for each day that she is used for draught work. Milk has a market price of Tk19 per day. As two animals are used for each plough, the value of draught power per day (vP) is calculated as:

vP = 2 × mpf × pM

where

mpf is the milk production forgone, and
pM is the price of milk per litre

In this case

vP = 2 × 1.5 × 19

which is T 57 per day per team of draught animals.

Under the rickshaw equivalent method, the calculation is based on the capital cost of a rickshaw in comparison to the cost of a team of draught animals. Using the rate of hire of a rickshaw, the daily hire of a draught team is estimated using the formula:

hP =

where

hP is the daily hire for a draught team
cdt is the capital cost of a draught team
cr is the capital cost of a rickshaw, and
dhr is the daily hire of a rickshaw (excluding labour).

The following estimates for the costs were obtained:

Using these estimates the value of a days draught power was estimated at Tk160.