Abstract
The present study aims to measure the technical efficiency and establish core factors affecting rice production in Cambodia. A four‐year dataset generated from the central government document “Profile on Economics and Social” of 25 entire provinces between 2012 and 2015 and the stochastic production frontier model (SFA) was applied. The results indicated that the level of output (quantity) of Cambodian rice production varied according to the different level of capital investment in agricultural machineries, total rice actual harvested area, and technical fertilizer application within provinces. Furthermore, evidence revealed that the overall mean efficiency of rice production is 78.4%, which implies that there is still room to further improve technical efficiency given the same level of inputs and technology. More importantly, the findings revealed that irrigation, production techniques and amount of agricultural supporting staff are the most important influencing factors of rice production’s technical efficiency in Cambodia. In conclusion, the present study strongly recommends the development of irrigation systems and good water management practices to be considered and bring about more effective actions by the central government as well as related agencies for improving rice production in Cambodia in addition to capital investment and improving technical skills of supporting staff and rural farmers.
Highlights
The Cambodian economy is largely dependent on the agricultural sector, which contributes 27%of national GDP (Gross Domestic Product), in which 65% of the labor force are engaged [1]
The variance ratio parameter of gamma (γ) had a value of 1.00 and significance at 1%, showing that the variation of the composite error term was mainly from the technical efficiency almost 100%, and the variation of random error (vi ) was less than 1%, indicating that the efficiency source of Cambodian rice production within the study period came mainly from the production’s technical efficiency
It is obvious that irrigation and production techniques both had negative coefficient signs and were significant at 1%, while agricultural supporting staff had negative coefficient signs but were significant at 5%, indicating positive relationships of these three factors to TE of rice production in Cambodia. These results revealed that development of irrigation systems and good water management practices, development of rice production technique to the rural farmers, and increasing the number of agricultural supporting staff in the provincial territory are the three core factors to cause rice production TE to increase
Summary
The Cambodian economy is largely dependent on the agricultural sector, which contributes 27%of national GDP (Gross Domestic Product), in which 65% of the labor force are engaged [1]. The Cambodian economy is largely dependent on the agricultural sector, which contributes 27%. Growth in the agricultural sector has played a crucial role in the development of Cambodia [2]. Since 2004, garments, construction, agriculture, and tourism have driven Cambodia’s growth. 2013, GDP climbed more than 7% annually [3], and GDP per capita in purchasing power parity has increased from $2,462 (US Dollar) in 2010 to $3,056 in 2013 [4]. Cambodian’s per capita income is rapidly increasing, it still remains low compared to other nations in the region. Most rural households depend on agriculture and its related sub-sectors; and rice, fish, timber, garments and rubber are Cambodia’s major export products [3]
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