An Analysis of Technical Efficiency and Determinants of Rice Production Efficiency in Takeo Province, Cambodia

Abstract

Rice is the main staple crop and one of the major sources of living for farmers in Cambodia. However, rice production in the country faces many problems such as poor farming practices, unavailable good seeds, destroyed irrigation systems, poor soil fertility, improper insect and pest management, drought and inefficient use of available technologies. These problems cause to reduce rice productivity in Cambodia. Farm efficiency has been related to resource use efficiency and achievement of higher productivity. The main purpose of this study was to estimate technical efficiency level and to identify the factors influencing the efficiency levels of rice production in Cambodia. In this study, the data used were based on a direct interview survey of 80 randomly selected rice farm households in the 2016 production year in Tram Kak and Kiri Vong districts of Takeo province, Cambodia. An input-orientation data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to examine technical efficiency scores and Tobit regression model was used to identify the factors influencing efficiency levels of rice production. The study result revealed that the average technical efficiency of farmers in the study area was 0.67, whereas rice producers could reduce their input costs by 33% while holding the same production level. Four factors were found influencing the efficiency levels of rice production. The Tobit regression model estimated that the factors including sex of family head, the main occupation of the family head and the number of rice growing times were found to positively influence technical efficiency, whereas the type of seeds planted/ variety was found to negatively influence technical efficiency. This result suggests that the policy-makers should pay more attention to technical training, providing financial support and strengthening the research institutions responsible for seed production and multiplication for farmers to increase their technical efficiency in rice production.