Comparison of technical and economic efficiency of trout farms production from imported and domestic egg

The existence of a lower feed conversion ratio (FCR) of some imported trout species and the reduction of the feeding costs of such trout, compared to Iranian egg has made it attractive to the use of foreign input. On the other, the imported eggs are significantly more expensive and cannot be supplied permanently, because of sanctions in Iran. It can also transfer disease to the Iranian trout farms. Therefore, this import problem is a threat to food security and farms' production. Hence, the use of imported egg versus domestic ones, on the one hand, is less welcomed in Iran, due to the possibility of instability and disruption in domestic production has been a major challenge in trout farming in this country. So that, the use of imported trout eggs has been questioned. Hence, the present study sought to find a solution to this problem. For this purpose, the concept of economic efficiency in the DEA model is employed in propagation and hatchery farms of Mazandaran Province. The findings revealed that the identified farms almost made the appropriate use of their inputs; So that the average technical efficiency among them is 87%. However, allocative efficiency was the main distractive factor in the farms; Thus, the average economic efficiency of them (propagation and hatchery farms) is lower and about 43%. Also, the average economic efficiency in propagation farms with domestic eggs (41%) is more than in farms with the use of just imported eggs (38%). Therefore, Changing the production structure in total dependant farms of Mazandaran (on imported eggs) to propagate domestic eggs can be advisable. Moreover, the reduction of feed prices and the use of capital-intensive technology instead of labor-intensive technology is another solution to ensure economic efficiency and sustainable food security in this province.