Abstract
The study was undertaken in Kumaon division of Uttarakhand state of India with the objective of estimating technical efficiency in milk production across different herd-size category households and factors influencing it. Total of 60 farm households having representation from different herd-size categories drawn from six randomly selected villages of plain and hilly regions of the division constituted the ultimate sampling units of the study. Stochastic frontier production function analysis was used to estimate the technical efficiency in milk production. Multivariate regression equations were fitted taking technical efficiency index as the regressand to identify the factors significantly influencing technical efficiency in milk production. The study revealed that variation in output across farms in the study area was due to difference in their technical efficiency levels. However, it was interesting to note that smallholder producers were more technically efficient in milk production than their larger counterparts, especially in the plains. Apart from herd size, intensity of market participation had significant and positive impact on technical efficiency in the plains. This provides definite indication that increasing the level of commercialization of dairy farms would have beneficial impact on their production efficiency.
Highlights
Despite of holding the number one position in global milk production, the milk productivity in India remains one of the lowest as compared to many leading countries of the world
Several studies are available on analysis of technical efficiency in farm production in the Indian context (Narala and Zala 2010 and Mondal et al 2012), studies on technical efficiency in milk production under mixed farming are rare (Saha and Jain 2004)
There were no significant differences between the hills and the plains in regard to average distance from farm to nearest animal health centre and access to credit
Summary
Despite of holding the number one position in global milk production, the milk productivity in India remains one of the lowest as compared to many leading countries of the world. Productivity growth can be enhanced through two pathways – technological progress and technical efficiency improvement (Karanja et al 2012). In a developing country like India, it is important to know what policies and steps need to be taken for productivity enhancement before investing scarce capital to effect technological progress (Saha and Jain 2004). In this context, efficiency analysis assumes critical importance as technical efficiency improvement entails inefficient farmers adopting existing technologies and Literature review has revealed that farmers in developing countries fail to exploit full potential of a technology and make allocative errors (Gelan et al 2010; Otieno et al, 2012 and Rao and Rama 2012). Several studies are available on analysis of technical efficiency in farm production in the Indian context (Narala and Zala 2010 and Mondal et al 2012), studies on technical efficiency in milk production under mixed farming are rare (Saha and Jain 2004)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.