Marginal Factor Cost Research Articles

Resource productivity and allocative efficiency in improved cassava (Manihot esculenta) -based mixed cropping system in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Over 60% of the cassava-producing households in Nigeria have adopted the cultivation of improved cassava varieties resulting in increased cassava yields and output. Yet, the attainment of domestic production level that would cope with the domestic consumption and the needs for the export market can only be achieved if the technical efficiencies of smallholder farm resources are upgraded and the cassava farmers become more efficient in the allocation of these resources. This study examined the resource productivity and allocative efficiency in improved cassava-based mixed cropping system in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select a total of 120 respondents (comprising 60 adopters and 60 non-adopters of improved cassava-based mixed cropping system) on whom structured questionnaires were administered during the 2022/2023 cropping season. Inferential statistics involving the Cobb-Douglas production function and descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. The regression results revealed that all the five resource inputs for the adopters and four inputs excluding agrochemicals for non-adopters of the improved cassava-based mixed cropping system positively contributed to output of the respondents in the area. The results further showed that most of the resource inputs were of higher productivities under the adopters than the non-adopters. The result of the deviation from unity of the ratio of the Marginal Value Product (MVP) to Marginal Factor Cost (MFC) revealed that the adopters were more efficient in the allocation of land, cassava stem cuttings and miscellaneous variable capital inputs than the non-adopters. Constraints to increased cassava production in the area include lack of finance, high cost of farm inputs, among others. Policy measures aimed at liberalization of agricultural credit schemes to enhance farmers’ access to essential farm inputs, introduction of labour-saving techniques to farmers among others were recommended towards increased production and profitable cassava value chain business in Nigeria

Economic and Profitability Analysis of Walnut Production in Kashmir Valley, India

The Jammu and Kashmir union territory is the largest producer of walnuts in India, and this crop provides an important source of livelihood for many farmers. This study aims to measure the economic efficiency and profitability of walnut orchards and explore constraints in cultivation in the Kashmir Valley. It relies on a crosssectional database collected from 240 walnut growers in the study area during the 2018/19 production period. Results reveal that walnut cultivation is highly laborintensive as it incurs 80 percent of total production costs. The cost-benefit ratio of 1:5.35 per hectare indicates better economic prospects for the walnut industry in Kashmir Valley. The factors affecting productivity include farmyard manure, labor, chemical fertilizers, plant density, women participation, and information. The regression coefficients of production analysis, marginal value product, and marginal factor cost ratio indicate that there is ample scope for the expansion of walnut cultivation in the research area. However, walnut growers are confronted by several problems that tend to be location specific. The study calls for policy intervention concerning improved access to extension services, credit, and farmer training programs to boost walnut production in the study region.

Economic Efficiency of Rice Farming: A Performance Difference among Agricultural Insurance Participant and Non-participant Farmer

Agricultural insurance is a risk-sharing business arrangement to protect farmers who encounter problems with adverse selection and moral hazards caused by asymmetric information. This situation leads to market inefficiencies since people with more information commonly take advantage of less informed people. This study aimed to compare the performance difference in the economic efficiency of rice farming between Rice Farming Insurance (RFI) participants and non-participant farmers. Primary data were collected from 202 farmers in Tangerang Regency. The marginal value product–marginal factor cost (MVP-MFC) approach was utilized to estimate resource use efficiency in rice production. The t-test was applied to determine differences in input allocation. The MVP-MFC discovered that the use of seeds was efficient for RFI participant farmers. Meanwhile, land, organic fertilizer, and pesticide had not been efficient, and inputs of inorganic fertilizer and labor were inefficient. Conversly, non-participant farmers indicated that the use of land, seeds, organic fertilizers, and pesticides had not been efficient, but the use of inorganic fertilizers and labor was inefficient. However, the comparison test revealed no difference in the input allocation efficiency between RFI participants and non-participant farmers. Hence, innovation in media and extension methods were required to change farmers’ behavior. Government policies were also necessary to ensure the availability of inputs. In addition, avoiding adverse selection and moral hazards in agricultural insurance was required to identify hazardous groups.

Efficiency of Resource Use in Rainfed Maize Production System by Small-Scale Farmers in Central Agricultural Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria

The study determined resource use efficiency in maize crop production by small-scale farmers in the Central Agricultural Zone of Cross River State Nigeria. It specifically examined the allocative efficiency of resources used by small-scale farmers in rainfed maize production in the area. Primary data were used to conduct the study. Statistical tools employed were multiple regression analysis and allocative efficiency index (AEI). The results of the multiple regression analysis revealed that the variables of farm size (x1), farm capital (x3), fertilizer (x4), farm credit (x6), extension service (x7), seeds planted (x8) had a positive relationship with the output of maize. The allocative efficiency index (AEI) of the various productive resources showed that farm size (x1), fertilizer (x3), and herbicides (x5) were found to be underutilized since their allocative efficiency index (AEI) was greater than one (1) and their marginal value product (MVP) were greater than their marginal factor cost (MFC) while Labour(x2) was over-utilized as the allocative efficiency index (AEI) was less than one (1). Based on these findings, the following recommendations were made; maize farmers should improve their use of productive resources such as land, capital, fertilizers, herbicide and seeds. Labour factor should be maximally utilized to create a favourable return to a unit of man day employed in maize production in the area.

Determining Technical and Resource-Use Efficiency in Rice Production in East Java

This study aimed to determine the technical and resource-use efficiency of East Java. The secondary data were used from the Paddy Cultivation Household Survey ST2013 handled by BPS-Statistics Indonesia. The data was cross-sectional and were derived from ST2013 in 2014. The stochastic frontier analysis analyzed the factors that drive rice output and quantified rice production's technical efficiency. In contrast, the marginal value product-marginal factor cost (MVP-MFC) approach was used to quantify resource-use efficiency in rice production. The SFA indicated that these factors positively affect rice output except for seed, fertilizer, labor, and land utilization. However, other factors were considered apart from the land size, such as exaggerated land and labor advantage in production and bad seed and fertilizer utilization. Technical efficiency varies considerably among rice farmers, ranging from 1 percent to 100 percent, with an average of 89 percent. Their technical inefficiency was influenced by their group membership, irrigation, credit, education level, and farmer age - external farm insect pests. The government and the private sector are involved in the programs through farmer groups. Keywords: agricultural production, allocative efficiency, resource-use efficiency, parametric frontier, ST2013, technical efficiency

Structural Pattern and Growth Analysis of Rice Production in Odisha

Even though rice has high importance for food security and agricultural GDP in the agrarian economy of Odisha, production is constrained by several factors. The trends, patterns, and instability of key production parameters such as area, yield need to be studied to suggest insightful measures for the development of rice cultivation in the state. The resource use efficiency also assumes significance to determine the profitability of rice production. The study used both secondary and primary data and analyzed trend, instability, and resource use efficiency using compound annual growth method (CAGR), Cuddy-Della Valle Instability Index, and Cobb-Douglas production function respectively. While the area under rice in Odisha marked a negative annual growth (-0.18), the yield and productions have shown significant positive growth of 1.95 and 1.76% respectively for the period of 1960-2019. In respect of instability in production and productivity, moderate variability was observed. However, for the area, the instability is very less. The production function analysis has shown excessive usage of significant resources like labor, fertilizers, and pesticides. The ratio of marginal value product and marginal factor cost for these inputs were much less than one, thus suggesting resource use optimization for profit maximization. The considerable variability in rice production, area and productivity in Odisha should be responded with strategic and sustainable measures.

FARM PRODUCTION RESOURCE MOBILIZATION AND ALLOCATION EFFICIENCY AMONG ARABLE CROP FARMERS IN EZZA NORTH L.G.A., EBONYI STATE, NIGERIA

The majority of the farmers (73.3%) sourced land through lease/purchase, and capital resources through personal savings (78.3%). The ratios of marginal value product (MVP) to marginal factor cost (MFC) show that no input was efficiently allocated by the arable crop farmers. Results on the effects of the amount of farm resources mobilized and used on arable crop productivity show a positive significant relationship with some variables at 1% level. Also, lack of finance, lack of land, poor road network etc were constraints on farm resources mobilization and allocation efficiency among arable crops farmers. Thus, the study concluded that the amount of farm production resources mobilized was little and farmers were ignorant of proper use. Therefore, the government and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector should organize regular workshops/seminars to educate arable crop farmers on the effective and efficient use of resources to achieve the best output.

Economic efficiency of goat farming in cauvery delta zone of Tamil Nadu

A study was conducted to analyse the economic and technical efficiency of goat farming in Cauvery Delta zone of Tamil Nadu, India. The primary data were collected by interviewing 180 goat farmers selected by multi-stage random sampling using pre-tested interview schedules during January to April 2017. The sample comprised of 87 small farmers (<5 goats), 78 medium farmers (6 to 15 goats) and 15 large farmers (>15 goats). The total fixed investments for goat farming were Rs. 14055.16 (small farmer), Rs. 29136.40 (medium farmer) and Rs. 70826.60 (large farmer). The total gross returns per farm for the above categories were Rs. 6241.94, Rs. 9607.04 and Rs. 12910.11, respectively. Overall, goat farming yielded a total return and net return of Rs. 10496.38 and Rs. 6248.92 per farm per annum, respectively. The break-even analysis revealed that small farmers required to produce 20.60 kg of chevon annually to reach break-even point, 51.02 kg and 222.96 kg by medium and large farmers, respectively. The ratio of marginal value product (MVP) to marginal factor cost (MFC) for flock size, labour charges, medicine and vaccination charges were more than unity in all the categories of the farms, which indicated under-utilization of resources. The stochastic frontier production function analysis revealed that labour charges had significant (p<0.01) positive influence on the chevon production in all categories of farms. The average technical efficiencies were 74.65,83.41,86.54 and 80.36% in small, medium, large and overall categories of farms respectively. The sub-optimal technical and resource use efficiency warrants scientific management practices among goatfarmers.

Determinants of resource use efficiencies among lowland rice farmers of Enugu State, Nigeria

The gap in supply and demand of rice could be due to observable differentials in the allocative efficiency of the rice farmers in Nigeria. Therefore, the study focused on the determinants of resource-use efficiencies and profitability of lowland rice farmers of Enugu State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to collect cross-sectional data from 300 smallholder rice farmers across the six agricultural zones of the State. The gross margin (GM) analysis was used to estimate the profitability while the marginal value productmarginal factor cost (MVP-MFC) was used to evaluate the efficiency of rice farming. The Stochastic Frontier Cost Function was also used to estimate the determinants of resource use efficiency among lowland rice farmers in Enugu state. The results from the GM showed that rice production is profitable with an average rate of returns on investment (ROI) of 2.80. The MVP-MFC analysis showed that all the input factors hypothesized were over-utilised indicating the existence of large-scale resource-use inefficiency among lowland rice farmers of the state. Education and age were the only socio-economic variables that affected the allocative efficiency of the rice farmers. The study recommends a farm-level policy directed towards the encouragement of younger adults since they are more likely to adopt innovation and boost efficiency and investment in extension education for advisory services to facilitate resource-use efficiencies.

Laser Land Levelling: A Way Forwards towards Resource Conservation in Paddy –Wheat Cropping Patterns in Haryana

Main objective of study was comparative analysis of Laser Land Levelling (LLL) vis-a-vis Conventional Land Levelling (CLL) in terms of resource use efficiency. Regression analysis along with economic concept of marginal value productivity (MVP) and marginal factor cost (MFC) were used to analyse resource use. Six variables were used to regress yield. The results of the study revealed that highest resource use efficiency were obtained in case of seed, while it was observed lowest in case fertilizers under laser land levelling (LLL) in paddy. Whereas, under conventional land levelling (CLL), highest resource use efficiency was found to be in case of labour while least resource use efficiency was obtained in irrigation. Similarly, in case of wheat highest and lowest resource use efficiency under laser land levelling technology were observed in inputs viz: seed and plant protection chemicals, respectively while, under conventional land levelling it was for inputs like labour and seed, respectively. Hence, study highlighted the strength of resource conservation potential of laser land levelling technology. Two variables i.e. irrigation and fertilizer impacted significantly with the adoption of laser land levelling, validated the outcomes of study by difference between MVP and MFC for these two particular inputs were found to be positive and close to zero indicated efficient utilizations of these resources. Hence, it is suggested that adoption of laser land levelling should be promoted on wider scale to tap its resource conservation potential.

Improving Soya Bean Productivity for Poverty Alleviation and Food Security in Upper West Region of Ghana: A Resource Use Efficiency Analysis

Soya bean is an important economic crop for smallholder farming systems in Upper West Region of Ghana. In spite of the introduction of modern and improved soya bean production technologies in Ghana, the productivity of the crop in the region is still low. Given that inefficient use of resources is a potential course of low yields, this study analyses the resource use efficiency of soya bean production. Using cross-sectional data collected from 271 soya bean farmers from the Upper West Region of Ghana, the study employed the Stochastic Frontier Translog Production Function as well as the ratio of Marginal Value Product to Marginal Factor Cost to understand the resource use efficiency of soya bean farmers in the region. The empirical results showed that the estimated coefficients of soya bean seeds, labor and farm size were significant and positively related to soya bean output even though fertilizer input was surprisingly significantly and negatively related to the output of soya bean. Also, resources employed in soya bean production were found not to be efficiently utilized as they were underutilized, indicating that yield and profit could be improved with optimal use of production inputs. Finally, the paper revealed that access to soya bean threshers is the most important constraint faced by farmers in the region. For the region’s soya bean yield to be improved, government and development organizations should assist soya bean farmers by removing major bottlenecks to acquisition of resources required for the production and postharvest handling of the crop.

Profitability, productivity and resource use efficiency of banana production in Hetauda-Dumkibas road corridor, Nepal

The study employed cost-return analysis, Cobb-Douglas production function and marginal value product-marginal factor cost (MVP-MFC) approach to estimate and analyze profitability, productivity and ...

Resource-use efficiency in maize production: the case of smallholder farmers in Ghana

This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency with which smallholder maize farmers use their input resources such as land, labor, capital, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and improved seed in maize production. The study used the multi-stage sampling technique to collect cross-sectional data from 600 smallholder maize producers from the northern, Brong-Ahafo, eastern, and central regions of Ghana. This study employed the marginal value product (MVP) to marginal factor cost (MFC) ratio (MVP/MFC) of the input resources. The results revealed an increased return to scale, meaning smallholder maize farmers in the pooled sample and the studied regions should enlarge their production scale by about 3.2%, 2.2%, 7.6%, 6.8%, and 2.8%, respectively, to maximize productivity. The results also revealed that resource inputs like fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, improved seed, and land were underutilized. Therefore, these resources need to be increased if smallholder maize farmers in the pooled sample want to be efficient in their production. Labor and capital were over-utilized and needed to be reduced to increase efficiency in the farmers' maize production.

Resource use Efficiency in Wheat under different Techniques in Haryana

The study was conducted in Karnal and Kaithal districts of Haryana in 2017-18. These districts of Haryana were selected purposively on the basis of the highest area under different types of resource conservation establishment techniques under wheat crop. Regression coefficients of inputs of seed, plant protection, and irrigation were found to be positive and significant whereas, machine labour and fertilizer were positive but with a non-significant impact on wheat yield for conventional technique in wheat. The difference between marginal value product (MVP) and marginal factor cost (MFC) for seed, plant protection, and irrigation was found to be positive and significant indicating underutilized usage, whereas machine labour and fertilizer were found to be over-utilized in the area. In the case of zero tillage technique seed, plant protection and irrigation were observed with significant impact whereas, fertilizer was having a negative significant impact on wheat yield. The difference between marginal value product (MVP) and marginal factor cost (MFC) for seed, plant protection, and irrigation was found to be positive and significant indicating their underutilized status, whereas fertilizer was found to be over-utilized in the area. The turbo happy seeder technique machine labour, seed and irrigation were found to be positive and significant whereas, fertilizer and plant protection were found negative without significant impact on wheat yield. The difference between marginal value product (MVP) and marginal factor cost (MFC) for machine labour, seed, and irrigation was found to be positive and significant indicating its underutilized level, whereas fertilizer and plant protection were found to be over-utilized in the region.

Resource use Efficiency in Groundnut Production in Punjab: An Economic Analysis

The study was conducted to measure resource use efficiency of groundnut cultivation in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. The primary data for 2017-18 were collected from 60 farmers comprising of small farmers 32, 14 medium and large farmers 14 from three villages of Bhunga block of Hoshiarpur district. On an average total variable cost per acre in production of groundnut crop was estimated to be`11553.20. The returns over variable costs were found to be`4949.17, 6725.68 and 10828.16 for small, medium and large farmers respectively. The results of the Cobb-Douglas production function revealed that the regression coefficients of seed and pesticides had a positive and significant influence on returns from groundnut production while the coefficient of machine usage showed the reciprocated results. The coefficients of multiple determinations indicated that 41.40, 18.20, 41.40 and 46.10 percent variation in crop yield among the classified categories. On an average, the ratios of marginal value productivity (MVP) and marginal factor cost (MFC) of seed were found to be more than unity which revealed the underutilization of these inputs whereas, in case of pesticide and machine usage the ratios were turned out to be less than unity signifying the over-utilization of inputs.

Resource Use Efficiency of Smallholder Producers Cooperative in Nigeria

Abstract The objective of this study is to analyse efficiency in resource use by cooperative producers with specialization in vegetable production and estimate the costs and return to such enterprises under cooperative conditions. Marginal physical product (MPP), marginal value product (MVP), and marginal factor costs (MFC) in addition to budgetary analysis were utilised to analyse the primary data collected through the questionnaire. The enterprise efficiency level is 0.06, the benefit-cost ratio is 1.06 while the expense structure ratio 0.37. The MVP results showed that all the resources used in production are under-utilized suggesting inefficiency of resource use by the cooperative producers. The result can be of advantage to producers if an appropriate understanding of cooperative principles is put into perspective in production-related decisions. Improvement of the level of utilization of input resources should be of interest to the government and related stakeholders.

Analysis of the Resource Management Ability by Catfish Farmers in Nigeria: A Case of Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State

The study was on the analysis of the resource management ability by catfish farmers in Nigeria: A case of Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State. The study focused on the five objectives which investigated the socioeconomic characteristics, costs and net returns, production function, determinants of the returns, resource use efficiency of the farmers, and the challenges facing fish farmers. Data for the study was collected from a cross-section of 240 randomly selected catfish farmers using a well-structured questionnaire and facial interview. The study was able to reveal that male (72.1%) farmers dominated the industry. The study recorded an average age, household size, level of education, farming experience, and output as 46 years, 11 people, 11 years, 13 years and 5.297 tons respectively. Fish farming was profitable with a net returns of 5,057.02 USD and returns on investment of 1.82 implying 1.82 USD returns upon every USD investment. The double-log was the lead functional form for the production functions, pond size (2.64)**, utilities (1.99)**, fingerlings (2.92)***, fertilizer (-1.97)**, and labour (-3.31)*** were the significant production factors. The ratio of Marginal Value Product (MVP) to Marginal Factor Cost (MFC) was less than one for all the resources used apart from fingerlings cost which was greater than one. The relationship between net returns and socioeconomic variables, semi-log was the lead equation and sex, farming experience, level of education, household size, and primary occupation were the significant variables. Furthermore, the study identified the following grey areas inherent in fish farming in the area to include; high cost of feed among others.

The Myth of Worker Exploitation in the Chinese Manufacturing Sector

Many news outlets and scholars have expressed concerns that workers have been unfairly exploited by employers in the Chinese manufacturing sector. Economic theory suggests that this exploitation, if it exists, is the result of employers in the manufacturing sector having considerable monopsony power. While there is a vast economic literature on monopsony power in the United States and other nations, little monopsony research has been conducted on the Chinese manufacturing market. This paper follows the monopsony research tradition and examines the Chinese manufacturing sector along several likely indicators of monopsony power. These include the turnover rate in the manufacturing sector, the relation between marginal factor cost and average factor cost, the relation between average real labor productivity and real wage in the manufacturing sector, and the comparison of labor costs between China and other countries. This study found that worker exploitation/monopsony in the manufacturing sector is not as severe as previously reported.

Resource Use Efficiency of Bt Cotton in Hanumangarh District of Rajasthan

An attempt has been made to examine the resource use efficiency of Bt cotton in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan. The purposive random sampling method was used to select 60 farmers. Survey method was adopted to conduct the inquiry by personal interview with the help of interview schedule. The Cobb-Douglas production function was used for estimation of the resources use efficiency. The results revealed that the Marginal Value Product (MVP) to Marginal Factor Cost (MFC) ratio for human labour (1.44), machine labour (5.07), seed (12.76) and irrigation (1.88) were found to be underutilized, which implies the increased usage of these inputs add to the gross income from cultivation of Bt cotton. Hence, there is an ample potential of raising Bt cotton production through adoption of improved and new technologies and optimum utilization of resources like human labour, machine labour, seed, manure and fertilizer, plant protection chemical (PPC) and irrigation with better management practices.

An analysis of resource use efficiency and allocative efficiency in IPM and non-IPM chilli production

Chilli is one of the most important and the largest produced spices. India is one of the largest producers, consumers and exporters of spices in the world. Indian chillies are known for their pungency and colour particularly grown in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh state. The present study was focussed on the assessment and comparing the resource use efficiency of chilli cultivation for IPM and non-IPM farmers in Andhra Pradesh. The results indicated that there was a positive relationship between IPM technology and the productivity of chilli. In case of IPM farmers the marginal value product to marginal factor cost ratio was observed to be more than one for organic manure, machine labour and chemical fertilizers which indicated that these inputs were underutilized.