The alfalfa esterase was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation method, cellulose method and sephadex method respectively. The result showed that the esterase activity purified by sephadex was higher than that of the other two purification methods. Infrared spectroscopy technology was used to study alfalfa esterase purified by different methods, it was found that absorption peaks of the infrared spectrum of crude extracts before purification was plentiful and disordered, and the absorption peaks of purified samples showed obvious and clear, indicating that all three methods could be used to purify esterase, it’s just the peak of esterase purity of sephadex was the highest.

Zimbabwe has witnessed a steady growth in broiler contract farming post the land reform programme which has brought in new players for which little is known about their level of productivity when compared to traditional commercial broiler producers. The purpose of this study was to determine the technical efficiency of broiler contract growers in Chegutu district of Zimbabwe. Specific objectives for the study were to establish socio-economic characteristics of boiler contract growers, estimate their technical efficiency and establish the determinants of technical efficiency. A population of 54 growers under one contract farming arrangement was studied. Cross sectional data was collected using a structured questionnaire and the stochastic frontier analysis was used to analyse the technical efficiencies and the determinants of technical efficiency. Broiler contract farming is dominated by male growers who constitute 72% of the contracted farmers. Significant factors influencing output were found to be batch size, feed quantity and transport cost. The broiler contract growers were found to be highly efficient with a mean technical efficiency of 97.1% ranging from 88.9%-99.6%. Grower residence on the farm and grower management of daily operations were found to significantly reduce technical inefficiency while technical inefficiency increases with grower age and key employee experience. The study recommends that there is need to expand broiler contract farming as it is highly efficient. The government must also put in place measures that encourage young smallholder farmers to venture into broiler contract farming as they are more efficient when compared to older farmers. Measures should also be put in place to encourage more female farmers to venture into broiler contract farming.

Following the land reform programme, the Zimbabwean commercial broiler sub-sector has undergone structural transformation from predominantly being dominated by large scale producers to being a small scale producer led sub-sector. Despite this structural transformation, there are limited empirical studies on small scale poultry production performance and in particular commercial broiler contract production. The purpose of this study was to determine the profitability of broiler contract growers in Chegutu District of Zimbabwe. Cross sectional data was collected using a structured questionnaire from a population of 54 broiler contract growers. The study employed the gross margin analysis technique to establish the profitability of broiler contract production and the Ordinary Least Squares regression approach to analyse its determinants. The study found that broiler contract production was profitable with the mean gross margin per grower per batch being $4834,20. The return per dollar invested was $0,12 while the gross margin per bird sold was $0,44. Feed and chick costs were established to be the major production costs constituting 62.06% and 26.36% of total variable costs respectively. Significant factors that positively contributed to profitability of broiler contract farming were selling price, gender of grower, age of grower, education level of grower, grower experience in broiler production and feed costs. On the other hand, grower years with key employee, daily management of broiler production activities by grower, batch size, vaccines and medication costs, transport costs and the food conversion ratio negatively and significantly affected profitability. The study recommends that measures should be put in place to encourage more smallholder growers to join broiler contract farming schemes as it is a profitable venture. Female growers must also be encouraged to venture into broiler contract farming as the results have shown that they are more profitable when ....