Application of Robust Data Envelopment Analysis to Estimate Technical Efficiency, A case study: Large-scale broiler Farms of sari city

Non-certainty is a prominent feature of real world issues. Since the change in the input data, though small, can dramatically change the results of the DEA models, applying ways to deal with non-certainty is an inevitable aspect of the use of these models. Therefore, in this research, the combination of robust optimization with Data Envelopment Analysis was used to study the technical efficiency of broiler farms with the capacity of over 30,000 broilers in Sari city. The results of Robust Data Envelopment Analysis model indicate that in the given uncertainty level (ε=0.1), as the level of conservatism increases from 0 to 8, the average of efficiency scores decreases from 96 to 93 percent and the number of efficient farms decrease from 23 to 18 farms. In addition, the greatest difference between the amount of optimal and actual consumption of inputs belongs to the cost of taking drugs and vaccines. Given that the largest part of drugs and vaccines costs are spent when a disease spreads, Applying appropriate policies to prevent the spread of epidemic diseases such as choosing healthy broilers in the same age, using proper nutrition, providing comfortable aviary, choosing proper density of broilers, dissolving the carcasses of ill broilers, using disinfectants properly and also using experts to determine the appropriate time and amount of drugs and vaccines can greatly help to enhance the efficiency of inefficient farms.