Technical Efficiency Of Farmers Research Articles

INVESTMENTS LIMITING NEGATIVE IMPACT OF FARMS ON THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY EFFICIENCY

The article attempts to evaluate the technical efficiency of farms that in 2015-2016 carried out an investment aimed at reducing pollution of the natural environment with nitrates from agricultural sources. Due to the type of the investment carried out, two groups of farms were distinguished. The first group were farms that carried out adaptive investments for the construction or extension of manure plates or slurry tanks. The second group, on the other hand, were farms investing in the construction of barns and piggeries along with buildings for collecting natural fertilizers. The source of data for the analysis were farms keeping accounting for the Polish FADN in 2014-2019. The results of the analysis showed that the investments carried out in both groups undoubtedly contributed to the significant development of the farms. Income per 1 working person from a farming family (1 FWU) increased in both groups by 95.3% and 78.5%, respectively in 2014-2019. Changes in technical efficiency, measured with the Malmquist index, showed an improvement in efficiency in both groups, but only in the group of farms investing in new buildings the changes were favorable both in terms of efficiency improvement and technological progress. Ultimately, measurement of efficiency showed its increase in the group investing in buildings by 0.7% and in the case of new livestock buildings by 3.4%.

The impact of energy poverty on agricultural productivity: The case of China

With scholars increasingly focusing on the threat to sustainable development posed by energy poverty, additional discussion on the energy poverty (EP)-agricultural technical efficiency (ATE) relationship is especially beneficial for achieving food security and agricultural sustainability. As such, using data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2002 to 2019, this study investigates the dynamic effect of EP on ATE by employing a system generalized method of moments approach. The results indicate that EP can significantly lower ATE. The heterogeneity analysis revealed that, as ATE increases, the negative effects of EP continue to wane, while the positive effects of industrial structure become more pronounced. Additionally, northern China's agricultural production is more vulnerable to EP. Based on an investigation of potential mechanisms, it appears that off-farm work is a significant channel through which EP adversely affects ATE. There are a lot of important policy implications from this paper because it adds to the existing body of knowledge and shows how to reduce the effects of EP on ATE.

Involution Effect: Does China’s Rural Land Transfer Market Still Have Efficiency?

Sustainable agricultural economic growth emphasizes the improvement of agricultural technical efficiency. This paper examines the impact of the rural land transfer market on agricultural technical efficiency by constructing a theoretical framework of the impact mechanism of the rural land transfer market on agricultural technical efficiency. The data of rural land transfer market in 30 provinces from 2005 to 2020 in China were used in this paper, and the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and Tobit model equation linkage was applied. The results showed: (1) In terms of time differences, the rural land transfer market had a significant stimulating and involution effect on agricultural technical efficiency. In 2006–2015, the rural land transfer market had a significant stimulating effect on agricultural technical efficiency, and, in 2016–2020, the rural land transfer market entered the stage of involution, and the rural land transfer market had a involution effect on agricultural technical efficiency. (2) In terms of regional differences, the stimulating effect of the rural land transfer market on agricultural technical efficiency was mainly concentrated in the main grain producing areas, and the involution effect was mainly concentrated in the non-main grain producing areas. (3) The involution effect of the rural land transfer market exceeded the stimulating effect, which made the rural land transfer market have a inhibition effect on agricultural technical efficiency from a comprehensive view of the overall trend.

Measuring Sustainable Intensification Using Satellite Remote Sensing Data

Farm-level sustainable intensification metrics are needed to evaluate farm performance and support policy-making processes aimed at enhancing sustainable production. Farm-level sustainable intensification metrics require environmental impacts associated with agricultural production to be accounted for. However, it is common that such indicators are not available. We show how satellite-based remote sensing information can be used in combination with farm efficiency analysis to obtain a sustainable intensification (SI) indicator, which can serve as a sustainability benchmarking tool for farmers and policy makers. We obtained an SI indicator for 114 maize farms in Yangxin County, located in the Shandong Province in China, by combining information on maize output and inputs with satellite information on the leaf area index (from which a nitrogen environmental damage indicator is derived) into a farm technical efficiency analysis using a stochastic frontier approach. We compare farm-level efficiency scores between models that incorporate environmental damage indicators based on satellite-based remote sensing information and models that do not account for environmental impact. The results demonstrate that (a) satellite-based information can be used to account for environmental impacts associated with agriculture production and (b) how the environmental impact metrics derived from satellite-based information combined with farm efficiency analysis can be used to obtain a farm-level sustainable intensification indicator. The approach can be used to obtain tools for farmers and policy makers aiming at improving SI.

E-commerce Adoption and Technical Efficiency of Wheat Production in China

Improving technical efficiency (TE) is crucial for the sustainable growth of smallholder agriculture in developing countries. While there has been a large literature investigating the determinants of smallholders’ agricultural technical efficiency, little is known about the effect of e-commerce on agriculture and crop production efficiency despite the growing importance of rural e-commerce in developing countries. This study, therefore, bridges the research gap by examining the impact of e-commerce adoption on TE using household survey data of wheat farmers in China. We employ the combination of propensity score matching (PSM) and a selectivity-corrected stochastic production frontier model to address the possible selection biases stemming from both observable and unobservable factors. We found that e-commerce adoption would lead to a 2.75 per cent increase in the technical efficiency of wheat production. Our study also complements the existing research of rural e-commerce, which mainly focuses on the benefits of e-commerce from the perspective of market opportunity and farmers’ welfare.

The Impact of Agricultural Land Rights Policy on the Pure Technical Efficiency of Farmers' Agricultural Production: Evidence from the Largest Wheat Planting Environment in China.

Although the clarification of property rights for agricultural land has the potential to enhance agricultural production efficiency and support its sustainable growth, this goal may not always be met in reality. As a result, the emphasis of this study is on the elements that affect agricultural output. It also examines how the stability of land rights affects agricultural production efficiency and, most importantly, how the heterogeneity of farmers' perspectives affects this process. Through the empirical test using the data of farmers in Henan Province, the largest wheat area in China, the results show that: (1) The farmland confirmation policy significantly promotes the improvement of the pure technical efficiency of agricultural production, a series of robustness tests, and the treatment of endogenous problems, which also confirmed the robustness of the results. (2) In the allocation of factors, agricultural investment and credit acquisition have been proved to be important influencing mechanisms, while labor and land transfer have not played a mechanistic role. (3) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the self-service of farmers choosing to purchase agricultural machinery is more efficient than purchasing outsourcing services; The agricultural production of farmer households without hired workers has a significant technical efficiency, but the impact on farmer households with hired workers is not significant; for farmer households with agricultural insurance purchase behavior, purchase willingness, and planting and breeding advantages, the farmland ownership confirmation policy can play a more important role in promoting the pure technical efficiency of agricultural production; The promotion effect of the farmland right confirmation policy on the pure technical efficiency of agricultural output is strongest when there is a smaller level of farmers operating on a part-time basis and when more farmers prioritize profit maximization as the production goal. Corresponding policy recommendations are made at the conclusion of the study in light of the conclusions mentioned.

Primena neparametarske analize efikasnosti u oceni ekonomske održivosti farmi

The aim of this research is to investigate technical efficiency in different types of farming in Republic of Serbia and then to determine achieved level of farm economic viability. The research is based on FADN data from 2020 year. An input-oriented data envelopment analysis method with variable return to scale is used for calculating farm technical efficiency. One output and four input variables are used in the model. Research has shown that farm technical efficiency in Serbia is on relatively low level (0.346). This indicates that there are significant reserves for potentially input reduction, without output reducing. According to types of farming the most efficient farms are the ones involved in horticulture production (0.542), followed by granivores (0.458) and vineyards and fruits (0.433), while the least efficient are dairy production (0.292). It is noticeable that more intensive types of farming have better output-input ratio, which indicates that those farms reached higher economic viability level. Of course, farm economic viability is wider term and further research should be directed at one comprehensive farm economic viability analysis which would take into consideration other relevant productivity indicators as well as profitability, liquidity and stability indicators. Thereby, considering FADN base limitations that are particularly noticeable when calculate liquidity and stability indicators, is necessary to continuously work on data quality improvement and to make the whole system better.

Procjena tehničke učinkovitosti mađarskih i hrvatskih stočarskih sektora primjenom DEA modela na FADN podacima

The different sectors of the livestock industry play an important role in meeting the increasing demand for animal products in both Hungary and Croatia. The general objective of this study was to investigate and compare the efficiency of the livestock sectors in Croatia and Hungary using the Data Envelopment Analysis method. In this paper, the technical efficiency of the dairy, beef, broiler, sheep and goat, and pig sectors from 2014 to 2017 is investigated based on the Farm Accountancy Data Network database. This paper compared farms of different size classes based on the Standard Production Value for more detailed insights. Among the five main livestock sectors, Hungary performs better in terms of farm technical efficiency in the dairy and beef sectors, while Croatia has higher efficiency scores in the sheep sector. The performances in the pig and broiler sectors are almost the same in both countries. Moreover, in the Hungarian poultry, pig, sheep and goat sectors and the Croatian dairy, beef and pig sectors, the technical efficiency of small-sized farms is better than that of medium-sized farms.

Technical efficiency and its determinants: Paddy farming in Mahakanumulla cascade system

Paddy farming is predominantly practiced in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Most paddy lands in the dry zone belong to traditional hydrological cascade systems known as Village Tank Cascade Systems (VTCS) and paddy lands receive irrigation water from the tanks in VTCS. Land is a scarce resource for agriculture in Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is important to achieve high efficiency in paddy farming to increase paddy production in the country. A paddy farm is technically efficient if it is producing the maximum output using the minimum quantities of inputs, such as labour, capital, and technology. This study examines technical efficiency of paddy farmers in Mahakanumulla VTCS and its determinants. The technical efficiency of the farmers is estimated using parametric frontier technique; the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). In the first stage of the analysis a production function is estimated using the Maximum Likelihood Estimator. In the second stage, an inefficacy model is estimated with plot size, age, experience, household size, full time farming, and land ownership status as determinants of technical inefficiency. According to the results, the average technical efficiency of paddy farmers in Mahakanumulla VTCS is 92.3%. Only the plot size, experience, and household size are positively related to technical inefficiency and significant at 10%. According to the study findings, the technical efficiency of paddy farmers in Mahakanumulla VTCS does not vary significantly from the most efficient farmer in the area. This could be due to the fact that in the VTCS, farmers are operating under more homogenous conditions. However, it does not indicate that paddy farmers in Mahakanumulla VTCS are highly productive as results only reveal the technical efficiency level of paddy farmers in comparison to the most efficient paddy farmer in the area. Therefore, it is important that productivity improvements are continuously carried out.

Extension services and the technical efficiency of crop‐specific farms in China

AbstractChina operates the world's largest system of extension services, but knowledge about its effectiveness is limited. Using farm survey data and a stochastic meta‐frontier production function, this study investigates the impact of extension services on the technical efficiency of crop‐specific farms in China. Results reveal that extension services have a statistically significant and strongly correlated relationship with farm technical efficiency and that different sources of extension have an inconsistent impact on it. Crop‐specific farms require distinct extension provision whose content is designed to match farmers' needs, and hence a pluralistic and well‐functioning system of extension provision should be developed.

Linking climate change adaptation practices with farm technical efficiency and fertilizer use: a study of wheat-maize mix cropping zone of Punjab province, Pakistan.

Climate change is a serious threat to global agriculture and the farming community is well aware of this challenge. This is the first empirical study that looks beyond the traditional studies only limited to the adoption of climate change measures by estimating the impact of adopted practices on technical efficiency and computing the actual level of fertilizer at the farm level. For this purpose, face-to-face interviews were conducted for data collection with 196 farmers selected through multiple stage simple random sampling in the wheat-maize mix cropping zone of Punjab province. The results depicted that changing fertilizer was the most commonly adopted strategy (76%) to negate the effects of climate changes on crop production. Stochastic frontier analysis results revealed that the adoption of diversification practices, soil and water conservation practices, and modern input use strategies were influential factors explaining the technical efficiency differential among different farmers. The average technical efficiency score was 0.71 in the locality implying that farmers have an opportunity to increase their farm efficiency by 29% with the present level of inputs. Moreover, adopters of modern input practices with a high index were 27% more efficient than those with a low adaptation index of these climate countering measures. The empirical results also revealed the excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer to counter the climate change impacts at the agricultural farms. This result has important policy implications for government agencies that it is not enough just to guide and motivate the farmers to adopt certain strategies to negate the effect of climate change. They should also be informed about the exact usage level of those suggested measures.

Efisiensi teknis usahatani kentang pada luas lahan yang berbeda di kabupaten Pasuruan

Potatoes are upland vegetable crops, which is the superior plant of Tosari District, Pasuruan Regency. Tosari potatoes are the largest contributor to production in East Java. The farmer profession is the main profession in this area, inherited from the family. The land area owned is inherited from the family. The agricultural land area varies, but still found farmers with a land area of more than one hectare. In this study, respondents were divided into two groups, namely farmers with a land area of ≥ 1 hectare called cluster I and respondent farmers with a land area of ≤ 0.5 hectares called cluster II. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of production inputs on potato production, to analyze the level of technical efficiency of potato farmers with different land areas, to analyze the factors affecting the level of technical efficiency. The study was conducted by interviewing 49 respondent farmers in Cluster I and 70 respondent farmers in Cluster II. This study uses the Cobb Douglas production function, the analytical methods used are the Stochastic Analysis Frontier (SFA) and the Tobit regression analysis. The results showed that the production inputs that had a significant effect on production in cluster I were seeds, fertilizers, and manure, while in cluster II were fertilizers and pesticides. The level of technical efficiency of farmers who have a land area of ≥ 1 hectare is greater than farmers with a land area of ≤0.5 hectares. The land area has a significant effect on the level of technical efficiency.

Has financial access improved agricultural technical efficiency? – evidence from two family farm demonstration zones in China

PurposeFinance is crucial to boosting agricultural development in developing countries. This paper aims to investigate the effects of rural formal and informal financial access on agricultural technical efficiency (TE) in China.Design/methodology/approachBased on the survey data of demonstrative family farms in Langxi county, Anhui province and Wuhan city, Hubei province in central China in 2017, this research assesses agricultural TE by using a three-stage DEA model. It adopts the tobit model to evaluate the effects of formal and informal financial access on TE, and to explore the heterogeneous effects by types, management states and scales. It uses the OLS regression and PSM method to check the robustness, and applies the IV-Tobit method to solve the endogeneity. The authors apply the mediation effect model to explore the channels through which financial access impacts TE.FindingsFamily farms' average TE reaches 13.9%, which shows much room for improvement under the given technical conditions and constant inputs. The research confirms the advantage of formal financial access in raising TE relative to informal financial access. The heterogeneous analysis documents more prominent effects of formal financial access on enhancing TE of aquaculture, hybrid, demonstration and large farms. The mediating effect model reveals that the enhancing TE effect of formal financial access derives from improved machinery investment and family labor division rather than land circulation.Originality/valueThe research clarifies finance into formal and informal finance. The results have considerable policy implications for rural financial policies in China.

Productivity Hot Spots and Cold Spots: Setting Geographic Priorities for Achieving Food Production Targets

Rice is the most important staple food in the Philippines as it provides almost half of the calorie requirements of the population. The domestic supply of rice, however, is inadequate to meet local demand, making the Philippines one of the top five rice-importing countries in the world. To close the domestic supply-and-demand gap, agricultural planners and policymakers in the Philippines have been promoting interventions to increase farm-level productivity. In support of the government efforts to increase rice productivity, a stochastic frontier analysis combined with an optimized spatial hot spot analysis was conducted to determine the factors that may influence the increase in rice farm efficiency and also identify candidate areas for relevant geographic-specific rice production interventions. Results show that enhancing access to irrigation and farm inputs and increasing the producers' technical capacity can help address the local supply deficiency by potentially increasing yield per hectare to as high as 5.50 metric tons per hectare. The approach to potentially increase rice farm technical efficiency and productivity must consider the spatial nature of rice production as suggested by the findings from the optimized hot spot analysis. It is important that policy interventions consider areas with a high incidence of low levels of productivity and technical efficiency. These are the locations where agricultural planners and policymakers can make greater impacts on rice yields. Relevant policies and initiatives, therefore, should take into account the geographical location of farms to ensure the greatest contribution to attaining food production targets.

Does cooperative membership impact the yield and efficiency of smallholder farmers? Evidence from potato farmers in Mongolia

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of agricultural cooperative membership on potato production and technical efficiency.Design/methodology/approachA combination of propensity score matching technique and sample selection stochastic frontier framework that addresses potential selection bias due to observable and unobservable attributes is used to estimate the effect of participation between cooperative members and non-members. Using a stochastic meta-frontier approach, the technical efficiency of farmers was estimated and compared.FindingsThe empirical results show that the effect of participation in agricultural cooperatives is associated with increased yield and technical efficiency. A comparison of group-specific frontiers indicates that cooperative members perform better than non-members. Cooperative membership decisions is significantly associated with household and farm characteristics (e.g. education, participation in off-farm work, total farmland, distance to market and geographic location).Practical implicationsThe findings of this study demonstrate that cooperative organisations can be an important tool to enhance the productivity and efficiency of smallholder farmers. Successful cooperative models together with training programs designed to enlighten farmers on the importance and tangible benefits of collective action should be used to enlarge participation in cooperative organisations. In addition, governments and development agencies should implement targeted investment and capacity building programs related to irrigation management, gender-sensitive awareness and development of the internal institutional mechanisms in cooperatives for the transfer of knowledge and mutual learning so that all members benefit from cooperatives.Originality/valueDespite the pervasive evidence of the impact of cooperatives on productivity and technical efficiency in the Asian region, this study is probably the first attempt in the crop sector in Mongolia. It provides a rigorous empirical analysis of the impact of agricultural cooperative membership on potato production and technical efficiency through a counterfactual design.

Farm level correlation analysis of maize supply and market participation in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Maize supply is limited by the structural and institutional constraints that have persisted despite market reforms in the State. The resultant effect is that smallholder subsistence farmers remain mostly outside the mainstream exchange economy, unable to take advantage of the exchange economy. Using data collected from 600 randomly selected maize farmers, descriptive statistics and the multiple regression model, the paper examined the correlation of maize supply and market participation in Kaduna State. Results of the descriptive statistics show that the average age, level of education, number of household members participating in maize production of the farmers were 44 years, 7 years and 9, respectively. The outcome of the multiple regression analysis established that maize supply is directly and significantly responsive to quantity of maize output sold (proxy for market participation) (0.956) and technical efficiency of farmers (739.29) at (p<0.01) of probability. Other significant variables were age (61.653), level of formal education (114.074) and years of farming experience, which were significant at different levels (p<0.05, p<0.01 and p<0.01, respectively). In conclusion, maize supply is directly and significantly responsive to market participation and technical efficiency of farmers. Maize farmers can increase commercialization through contract farming and produce buying centres. There is also the need for continuous government support to the agricultural sector.

Characterizing farm-level social relations’ influence on sustainable food production

The cultural, economic, and nutritional importance of rice led many countries to investigate how domestic rice production can meet current and future demands. In rice production, the role of social capital and personal networks of producers compared to biophysical and economic assets, are less well understood even though case study analyses routinely indicate that they play an important role in production efficiency and sustainability. Using data from rice farmers in the Philippines, we sought to understand the role of social capital on farm productivity, technical efficiency, and the adoption of sustainable practices. Through social network analysis and structural equation modeling, we show the accumulation of social capital resources exhibits a positive impact on farm technical efficiency and the adoption of technology for water conservation. The results offer a different frame of reference for policymakers developing new approaches for sustainable rice production in terms of how dynamics between farmers may ultimately attain national and global sustainability goals.

Variations in technical efficiency of farmers with distinct land size across agro-climatic zones: Evidence from India

This paper attempts to analyze the variations in technical efficiency of the individual farmers of distinct (small, medium and large) size of land holdings and different types (family and hired) of labor with given set of input variables for the agricultural production across different Agro-Climatic Zones. A field survey was conducted to collect the information from a randomly stratified sample of 300 farmers operating in six districts falls under Trans-Gangetic Plains and Semi Sandy Desert zones of the states of Punjab and Haryana in India. A model of stochastic frontier analysis for cross sectional data with half normal truncated features has been used to measure the technical efficiency under the assumptions of Cobb-Douglas production function. The model comprises eight dummy variables for the farmers owning distinct size of land and using distinct type of labor in their production. The results for the estimates of technical inefficiency with family and hired labor depict; small farmers are 50.30 and 68.11 per cent, medium farmers are 61.09 and 67.75 per cent, large farmers are 71.03 and 56.67 per cent and average farmers are 71.94 and 70.07 per cent inefficient respectively. This paper helps the farmers and the policy makers in identifying the second best-alternative crop for obtaining the sustainable agricultural production.

Regional Diversity of Technical Efficiency in Agriculture as a Results of an Overinvestment: A Case Study from Poland

Ensuring adequate profitability of production, which can be ensured by optimal investments, can encourage farmers to be more caring about sustainable development. Several existing studies indicate that technical efficiency in agriculture varies regionally. Investments comprise a basic way to increase efficiency and thus reduce polarisation between regions. However, contrary to established assumptions, not every investment leads to increased efficiency, which entails a phenomenon of overinvestment. Investments should, by definition, be positively correlated with efficiency. However, existing studies indicate the existence of a significant problem of overinvestment, where increased efficiency may not occur. While for about 40% of farms in Poland the scale of investments can be assessed as optimal, more than quarter of farms exhibited absolute overinvestment and nearly one in five farms is underinvested. In response to this problem, this study aimed to identify regional differences in Poland with regard to overinvestment in farms, as well as to determine changes in farm efficiency depending on the region and level of overinvestment. The source material used in the following article consisted of unpublished Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) microdata derived from the DG AGRI of the European Commission. The study covered the period 2004–2015. For an original classification of farms according to their level of overinvestment the technical efficiency, using the stochastic frontier analysis approach, was used for determining regional differences that occurred as a result of overinvestment. Stochastic frontier analysis shown noticeable differences in the average technical efficiency for different overinvestment groups. As expected, underinvested farms are the least efficient (general in Poland and in all analyzed regions) and average technical efficiency did not increase. Interestingly, optimally investing farms do not have the highest technical efficiency. Higher efficiency was achieved by both relatively and absolutely overinvested farms. This is due to the fact that in order to produce efficiently in agriculture, it is necessary to at least maintain the level of tangible assets provision, and preferably to increase it as well. In terms of overinvestment levels, farm structure does not differ significantly between individual regions in Poland. However, there are differences between regions in terms of farm efficiency within each group. In all regions, only the underinvested farms did not increase their efficiency over the period under review and the highest efficiency growth rate was in regions where farms were least efficient at baseline.

Impact of Small Scale Irrigation on Farm Technical Efficiency and Household Income in Amhara Regional State: A Stochastic Approach

Agriculture is the main stay of Ethiopian population with a significant contribution to GDP. More recently the quest for more enhanced production and productivity has become an urgent issue of importance in the agriculture sector. The use of yield improving technological innovations is paramount importance towards this goal. As the potential to increase production and productivity by bringing more resources in to use is limited, the efficiency in which the farmers use available resources has received the utmost attention. This being the case, in this study effort has been made to assess the impact of small scale irrigation on farm technical efficiency and household income. The study was conducted in Amhara regional state. The survey data was collected from four kebeles in Sekela woreda of west Gojjam administrative zone in the year 2014/15 from 119 households. The data collected considered two groups of farm households, irrigation users and non-user households. Stochastic production frontier function with inefficiency variables had been applied to estimate technical efficiency. The finding of income variables indicate that land, access to irrigation, credit, education, labor, total livestock unit, and ox have significant contribution to household income. Among the input variables land and ox have positive and significant contribution to farm production whereas labor has negative contribution to farm production. The coefficient of land and oxen is 0.9 and 0.28 for irrigation users and 1.56 and 0.46 for irrigation non users respectively indicating greater marginal contribution of input variables when irrigation technology is in place. The inefficiency variables, age square , access to irrigation and land are found to improve farm efficiency while age of the household, gender, and dependency ratio have negative contribution to farm technical efficiency. Distance of the farmer’s house from development center and extension participation is not statistically significant. The mean technical efficiency of the whole sample was found to be 71% indicating that there is a possibility of improving the farm output on average by 29% if the technical efficiency of less efficient households could perform better to obtain the maximum attainable level of output. Keywords: Technical efficiency, Stochastic production frontier, Sekela woreda, Irrigation user and non-user. DOI: 10.7176/DCS/11-5-01 Publication date: May 31 st 2021