The green productivity of broiler production in China: Considering the resource utilization of manure

Resource constraints and environmental challenges have emerged as serious impediments to the sustainable development of China's broiler industry, with potentially adverse consequences. The pursuit of sustainable development in China's broiler industry is predicated on significant reductions in manure and pollutant emissions from broiler farming. This study utilizes the slacks-based model and the global Malmquist-Luenberger index to calculate the green total factor productivity of broiler breeding across various provinces and scales from 2005 to 2020 within a joint production framework of considering undesirable outputs and desirable outputs. Fluctuations in economic distribution of broiler breeding are characterized using the kernel density estimation, and a convergence analysis is performed via absolute and conditional β convergence methods. The results revealed an overall upward trend in China's broiler farming green total factor productivity from 2005 to 2020, corresponding to green total factor productivity in small-, medium-, and large-scale broiler breeding were 1.015, 1.017, and 1.009, respectively. The kernel density curve implies a narrowing trend in the discrepancy of green total factor productivity levels among provinces in broiler breeding of varying scales. For all scales, broiler breeding's green total factor productivity demonstrates considerable conditional and absolute β convergence. Therefore, improving the efficiency of broiler breeding while addressing externalities requires the cultivation of broilers at different scales across diverse regions, coupled with an increased focus on improving the utility efficiency of broiler waste fertilization.