scholarly journals Technical efficiency of improved and local variety seed maize farms in Ghana: A meta-frontier analysis

2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Theophilus Tweneboah Kodua ◽  
Edward Ebo Onumah ◽  
Akwasi Mensah-Bonsu
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2708
Author(s):  
Ziqi Yin ◽  
Jianzhai Wu

In recent years, through the implementation of a series of policies, such as the delimitation of major grain producing areas and the construction of advantageous and characteristic agricultural product areas, the spatial distribution of agriculture in China has changed significantly; however, research on the impact of such changes on the efficiency of agricultural technology is still lacking. Taking 11 cities in Hebei Province as the research object, this study examines the spatial dependence of regional agricultural technical efficiency using the stochastic frontier analysis and spatial econometric analysis. The results show that the improvement in agricultural technical efficiency is evident in all cities in Hebei Province from 2008 to 2017, but there is scope for further improvement. Industrial agglomeration has statistical significance in improving the efficiency of agricultural technology. Further, there is an obvious spatial correlation and difference in agricultural technical efficiency. Optimizing the spatial distribution of agricultural production, promoting the innovation, development, and application of agricultural technology, and promoting the expansion of regional elements can contribute to improving agricultural technical efficiency.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Paul Jr. Tabe-Ojong ◽  
Ernest L. Molua

Agriculture is the mainstay of Cameroon’s economy as it serves the purposes of food, livelihood and employment. Nevertheless, the country’s agriculture is plagued by low productivity and inefficiency in production. One of the main reasons for low productivity is the inability of farmers to fully exploit available technologies and production techniques. An important research question that comes to mind is, what are the major factors that hinder the technical efficiency of smallholder farmers? This study thus aimed to determine the level of technical efficiency in the production of tomato in smallholder farms, relying on primary data collected using a structured survey instrument administered to 80 tomato farmers in the Buea municipality of Cameroon. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and a stochastic frontier analysis method in the Cobb-Douglas production function. The STATA.14 software was used to obtain both stochastic frontier estimates and the determinants of technical efficiency. The results indicate that farmers are not fully technically efficient with a mean technical efficiency score of 0.68 with one farmer operating on the frontier. The study also revealed that most of the farmers irrespective of the size of the holdings have shown technical inefficiency problems. The older farmers were observed with the best measures of technical efficiency. Education, age and the adoption and practice of agronomic techniques had a positive and significant influence on technical efficiency while the nearest distance to the extension agent had a rather negative influence on technical efficiency. The input-output relationship showed that the area of tomato cultivation and the quantity of improved seed used were positive and significantly related to output at the 5% level of probability. As a result, it is recommended that farmers should increase their farm size, use of improved seeds and the adoption and practice of novel techniques in production. More emphasis should be placed on extension agents as they have a significant role to play in terms of improving and augmenting farmers’ education and information base through on farm demonstrations and result oriented workshops as all this will ensure increased production and productivity thereby increasing technical efficiency and achieving food self-sufficiency.


Author(s):  
Mukole Kongolo

This study measured technical efficiency and its determinants in maize production by small-scale producers in Mwanza region, using a stochastic frontier production function approach. A randomly selected sample of participants in the two districts was used. The Maximum Likelihood estimation procedure was followed to obtain the determinants of technical efficiency and technical efficiency levels of small-scale maize producers. The minimum and maximum values of technical efficiency were between 20% and 91%, indicating that the least practices of specific producer operates at a minimum level of 20%, while the best practice producers  operate  at 91% technical efficiency  level respectively. The summary results of the mean technical efficiency was 63%. The main determinants of technical efficiency were labour, farm size, producer’s experience, producer’s age, family size which were all positive and statistically significant. The findings suggest that the average efficiency of small-scale maize producers could be improved by 37% through better use of existing resources and technology. These findings highlight the need for action by government to assist small-scale maize producers improve efficiency.


Author(s):  
Anita Rosli ◽  
Alias Radam ◽  
Khalid Abdul Rahim ◽  
Amin Mahir Abdullah

This study aimed to estimate the technical efficiency among pepper (Piper nigrum. L) farmers in Sarawak, Malaysia, using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). SFA involves a one-step process that can estimate technical inefficacy factors simultaneously with the production frontier. 678 pepper farmers were involved in this study, and the data were collected from 2012 to 2013. The mean score for technical efficiency was 0.518, indicating that pepper farmers were not efficient. However, the inefficiency model showed that education level, membership in farmers’ association, full-time as a pepper farmer, attending courses and visiting sample farms were factors that significantly improved inefficiency. The major problem of pepper farming in Sarawak is poor agricultural practices where farmers do not fully utilize the available agricultural inputs to produce maximum output. Based on the findings, farmers must improve their knowledge and skills in pepper farming through agronomic education.


Author(s):  
Tomas Baležentis ◽  
Tianxiang Li ◽  
Alvydas Baležentis

This study aims at analysing the trends in efficiency of Lithuanian dairy farms and thus identifying the prospective development paths. The semiparametric approach based on nonparametric regression and Stochastic Frontier Analysis is applied for the analysis. The research relies on Farm Accountancy Data Network and covers family farms. The period of 2004–2011 is considered. In order to identify the underlying trends in dairy farming, we focus on such features as technical efficiency, partial elasticities, and elasticity of scale. The semiparametric approach yielded rather high efficiencies. Specifically, the average technical efficiency of 89% was observed. A decline in technical efficiency during 2004–2011 is present for both point estimates and associated bounds of the confidence interval. Analysis of the elasticity of scale implies that most of the farms could still increase their scale of operation. The obtained results were confirmed by a parametric random coefficients model.


Author(s):  
Manoj Kumar

This study employs a stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and technical inefficiency effects model to predict the technical efficiency of 3,168 Indian manufacturing and exporting SMEs, analyze their returns to scale and key factors impacting on their technical efficiency. Indian manufacturing and exporting SMEs extensively rely on labor rather than capital to increase their output, including almost all exporting SME groups, except those exporting to North & South America. The production of Indian manufacturing SMEs exporting to Oceania, however, has increasing returns to scale (1.1965). The inefficiency effects model reveals that firm size, firm age, foreign ownership, location and government assistance are firm-specific factors that significantly affect the technical inefficiency of production. Finally, evidence-based policies are also provided to facilitate improvement in the technical efficiency performance of Indian manufacturing and exporting SMEs.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document