Abstract
Wheat and wheat products are an important part of the daily diet of Uzbek people, and thus, are under strategic consideration in terms of food security in Uzbekistan since the beginning of independence. In this study, wheat production during agricultural transition is reviewed and determinants of technical efficiency of wheat-cultivating farms in the Samarkand region are analyzed. Analyses are accomplished in two steps. In the initial step, technical efficiency of wheat farms is estimated using data envelopment analyses (DEA) and determenants of inefficiencies are analyzed by the Tobit model in the second step. Data for this study were collected from 124 randomly sampled private farms engaged in wheat production in the Samarkand region. The mean value of technical efficiency scores of wheat-growing farmers were found to be 0.79 and 0.82 under constant return to scale (CRS) and variable return to scale (VRS) assumptions. Empirical results suggest that there is a considerable scope for increasing production through reallocation of existing resources or that private farmers can reduce their input costs by 21 and 18 percent while holding the same production levels. The age of farmers, farmers’ education on agriculture, soil fertility, and the quality of seeds were found as the main determinants of technical efficiency in the study area.
Highlights
Agriculture is the largest and most important sector for the economy of Uzbekistan, especially in terms of food security, employment, rural livelihood, and export [1]
As we described in the previous chapter, Samarkand region is divided into four zones and soil fertility levels differ among these zones
Since wheat is considered a strategic crop in terms of food security, it is necessary to analyze the performance of private farms engaged in wheat production in the country
Summary
Agriculture is the largest and most important sector for the economy of Uzbekistan, especially in terms of food security, employment, rural livelihood, and export [1]. Since the beginning of independence, reforms in the agricultural sector have been focused on intensification of agricultural production while recent policies are more addressed to diversification of cropping systems and supporting the development of high-value crop production for domestic and export markets [2]. About 49% of country’s population lives in rural areas and 25.9% of them are associated with agricultural production [3]. The main attentions were addressed to change the structure of property rights in agriculture and to provide sufficiently the needs of the country’s population by increasing the volume of agricultural production [5]
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