Technical Efficiency Of Rice Production Research Articles

Agricultural socialized services empowering smallholder rice producers to achieve high technical efficiency: empirical evidence from southern China

IntroductionThis study emphasizes the importance of agricultural efficiency for food security and income generation, especially among smallholder rice farmers in southern China. Limited access to essential agricultural services hinders productivity in this region. The study highlights the significant potential of agricultural socialized services (ASS) in improving the technical efficiency of smallholder rice production.MethodsTo analyze the impact of ASS on technical efficiency in rice production, we focused on tillage, transplanting, crop protection, and harvest operations. We employed stochastic frontier analysis and collected data from smallholder farmers in Hunan, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces. By estimating the technical efficiency of rice production, we aimed to assess the relationship between ASS and smallholder farmers’ technical efficiency.Results and discussionThe results of our analysis revealed that ASS significantly enhance the technical efficiency of rice production among smallholder farmers by supporting agricultural practices such as transplanting, crop protection, and harvest operations. However, we found that the impact of ASS on tillage operations was not statistically significant. Participation in ASS enhances smallholders’ access to modern production techniques, resources, and knowledge, leading to improved technical efficiency. These services also empower smallholder rice producers to adopt sustainable farming practices, access credit, financing, and market information, and promote collective action and cooperation, ultimately influencing technical efficiency.ConclusionThis study emphasizes the potential of ASS in improving the technical efficiency of smallholder rice production in southern China. Policymakers and agricultural organizations can use these insights to design interventions that promote efficient practices, enhance productivity, support livelihoods, and ensure food security in the region.

The Impact of Natural Disasters and Pest Infestations on Technical Efficiency in Rice Production: A Study in Vietnam

This study examines the effects of natural disasters, such as typhoons, floods, droughts, and pest infestations, on the technical efficiency of rice production in Vietnam. Employing stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), the research estimates the technical efficiency in rice production of 2394 farmers from the 2018 Vietnam Access to Resources Household Survey (VARHS) dataset. The findings indicate that the average technical efficiency of rice production among these farmers is 78.99%. Exposure to natural disasters and pest infestations leads farmers to reduce their investments in rice production, resulting in decreased technical efficiency, lower yields, and reduced profitability. Among the various disasters, droughts have the most significant adverse impact on technical efficiency in rice production. The results highlight the limited capacity of farmers to cope with the challenges posed by natural disasters in rice production. The study emphasizes the importance of providing timely support to farmers, fostering resilience within the context of rice farming, and enhancing agricultural sustainability in Vietnam. To address these challenges effectively, policymakers are advised to prioritize facilitating farmers’ access to agricultural insurance. Additionally, encouraging income diversification among farmers becomes crucial to ensuring provisions in the case of income loss from rice production due to natural disasters or pest infestations. Moreover, measures such as promoting climate-smart agricultural practices, improving water management infrastructure, establishing early warning systems, and emphasizing pest and disease control measures can be implemented to mitigate losses resulting from natural disasters and pest infestations.

Analysis of the Technical Efficiency of Rice Production in Radhi Gewog, Trashigang District, Bhutan: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

Rice is the staple cereal crop in Bhutan. This paper analyzes the technical efficiency and its associated factors that influences the rice efficiency in Radhi Gewog, Trashigang District in Eastern Bhutan. Primary data on socio-economic and production function data were collected by employing stratified random sampling from 120 rice producing farmers for the year 2021-2022. The stochastic frontier parametric analysis approach was used for analyzing the objective of the paper. The results showed that rice farmers in the study area are technically efficiency at 76.4 percent. Training, size of the household and extension were found to have significant effect on maize technical efficiency.

The effect of crop insurance in Ecuadorian rice farming: a technical efficiency approach

PurposeThe aim of this study is to estimate the technical efficiency of the massive and economically important crop of rice in Ecuador, and then conduct a comparison between groups of farmers with and without insurance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use an input-oriented data envelopment analysis approach (DEA) to estimate technical efficiency scores. The DEA is combined with the double bootstrap approach in Simar and Wilson (2007) to study factors that may affect technical efficiency. This method overcomes the traditional two-stage DEA approach frequently used in the efficiency literature. The authors thus research the role of insurance on rice efficiency production using this technique and sizeable field-level survey data from 376 rice farmers distributed in five provinces during the 2019 winter cycle in Ecuador.FindingsMost uninsured rice farmers operate with increasing returns to scale, which means that farms improve their resource use efficiency by increasing their size. However, since scale efficiencies are relatively high, it appears that inefficiencies are explained by inadequate input use. Also, the authors find evidence that insured farmers have a negative relationship with technical efficiency in rice production. In other results, when exploring the influence of additional variables on efficiency, the authors find that parameters related to transplanting, high education, farm size and some locations are positive and statistically significant.Social implicationsThe results of this work are relevant for policymakers interested in evaluating technology performance, risk management instruments and farm efficiency in an industry in a developing country such as rice production in Ecuador.Originality/valueThis paper is the first attempt to estimate farm-level technical efficiency employing the double bootstrap approach to assess the efficiency and its determinants of Ecuadorian rice producers.

Technical efficiency and constraints related to rice production in West Africa: The case of Benin Republic

Rice plays a major role in the fight against food insecurity in developing countries such as Benin. The objective of this research is to evaluate the determinants of technical efficiency, the factors influencing this efficiency, as well as the constraints related to rice production in Benin. The technical efficiency levels were obtained from the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method and were regressed in a Tobit regression model to assess the determinants of the efficiency of rice producers. Production constraints were identified using Kendall’s W concordance test and descriptive statistics. The technical efficiency rate obtained was 51%. Inferential analysis showed that parameters such as the age of the rice producer, household size, the amount of agricultural credit obtained, and the use of inputs impact the technical efficiency of rice production. In addition, most rice producers suffer from limited access to agricultural credit and adequate agricultural equipment, while their production is subject to climatic hazards. Agricultural development policies related to the determinants of the technical efficiency of rice production should be formulated in order to improve the efficiency of the producers in Benin Republic.

Can Information from the Internet Improve Grain Technical Efficiency? New Evidence from Rice Production in China

The Internet has become an important channel through which farmers obtain technical information regarding agricultural production. While previous studies have examined the effect of information from the Internet on technical efficiency in cash-crop production, there is little knowledge about how information from the Internet affects technical efficiency in grain production. This study aims to provide new evidence for the effect of information from the Internet on technical efficiency in rice production using the random survey data of 1122 rice farmers from the Yangtze River Basin in China. A stochastic frontier production function is employed to estimate technical efficiency in rice production, and the endogenous switching regression model is utilized to address the potential self-selectivity bias. The results show that 13.6% of surveyed rice farmers obtain information regarding agricultural production from the Internet. After addressing the self-selectivity bias, information from the Internet is found to increase rice farmers’ technical efficiency by 6.657 percentage points using the endogenous switching regression model. Meanwhile, information from the Internet exerts greater positive effects on technical efficiency in rice production among farmers with larger farm size and less farming experience as well as those in the Guizhou and Hubei provinces.

Technical Efficiency of Rice Production in the Upper North of Thailand: Clustering Copula-Based Stochastic Frontier Analysis

This study examines the efficiency of rice production in Thailand, especially major rice, which is the main crop of farmers in all regions of Thailand and is still a pressing issue. Analyzing technical efficiency by using the appropriate analytical tools inevitably brings about determining the correct production efficiency measures. In this study, we applied the K-Means algorithm and copula-based stochastic frontier model to cluster farmer groups in order to find the different factors that impact the group, and to relax the assumption of the two components of random error, which is that they are independent to each other; the correlation of the two components of random error is also represented by the estimation of copula. The findings from the K-Means clustering algorithms applied in this study indicate that the production frontiers can be divided into two frontiers, with the number of farmers under the frontiers of such production differing from the number of farmers collected in each area. The production frontiers were obtained with 591 farmers under the first production frontier and 65 farmers under the second. In addition, the results reflected a correlation between the two error components U and V. This suggests inefficiencies and zero-mean, and that the symmetric error is not independent of each other. The findings from the application of the copula-based stochastic frontier production function models indicate that land, cost of chemicals, and labor inputs have significant positive effects on the mean output of major rice in both groups of farmers. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that the financial services in rural areas should be continuously promoted by governmental policy, particularly via agricultural loans, to rural people since the utilization of inputs affects the quantity of rice produced. Timely loans should be encouraged.

Technical Efficiency of Rice Farmers in Telangana, India: Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)

It is known that inability of the farmers to exploit the available production technologies results in lower efficiencies of production. So, the measurement of technical efficiency in agricultural crops in developing countries like India gained renewed attention since the late 1980s from an increasing number of researchers. Accordingly, the present study has employed Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist Total Factor Productivity Index to ascertain the Technical Efficiency of rice productivity (2021-2022) and its changes over the study period (2019-2020 to 2021- 2022) respectively in Telangana, India. This study was based on secondary data pertaining to rice productivity (output variable), fertilizer doses (NPK), seed rate, water applied and organic manure (input variables). The findings of Data Envelopment Analysis revealed that the overall mean technical efficiency score across all the Decision-Making Units was 0.860 ranged between 0.592 to 1.000. So, the Decision-Making Units, on an average, could reduce their input usage by 14 per cent and still could produce the same level of rice output. Further, fertilizers (60.54 kg/ha); seed (5.63 kg/ha); water (234.48 mm) and organic manure (3.76 t/ha) use can be reduced without affecting the current level of rice productivity. Malmquist Total Factor Productivity indices (2019-2020 to 2021-2022) revealed that the mean scores of technical efficiency change, pure technical efficiency change and scale efficiency change are more than one (1.153, 1.042 and 1.009 respectively), unlike technological change (0.983). All the Decision-Making Units showed impressive progress with reference to technical efficiency change (1.112) and it is the sole contributor for Total Factor Productivity change in rice cultivation. The DEA results suggest that farmers should be informed about the use of inputs as per the scientific recommendations to boost the technical efficiency of rice productivity in Telangana. It also calls for policy initiatives for distribution of quality inputs to the farmers to boost technical efficiency in rice production.

Does Climate Change Adaptation Improve Technical Efficiency of Rice Farming? Findings From Yogyakarta Province Indonesia

Food security of the Indonesian population is threatened because climate change has the potential to reduce technical efficiency of rice production. To adapt and reduce these negative impacts, farmers implement climate change adaptation strategies. This study aims to determine how the effect of climate change adaptation on the technical efficiency of rice farming. Research data was collected through interviews with 112 rice farmers in Sleman Regency. We carried out two stages of analysis, namely stochastic frontier analysis to determine the production function and efficiency level, and tobit regression to determine the effect of adaptation strategy on technical efficiency. The findings indicate that most farmers use short-lived varieties and apply two types of adaptation strategies in one growing season. By increasing the number of adaptation strategies, the technical efficiency of rice farming will increase. These results have important policy implications for increasing the adoption of adaptation strategies by farmers. The government and farmers should collaborate to formulate adaptation strategy policies to provide farmers with a choice of adaptation strategies. Keywords: adaptation, agricultural development, climate change, rice farming, technical efficiency

Productivity and Technical Efficiency of Rice Production in Selected Areas in Kambia District, Northern Region

Productivity and Technical Efficiency of Rice Production in Selected Areas in Kambia District, Northern Region

Land Tenure Systems and Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria: A Case of Rice Production

This study examined land tenure systems and rice productivity in Nigeria. Primary data were used for the study. Data were collected with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire. A four-stage sampling technique was used to select a total sample size of three hundred and forty-nine (349) rice farmers for the study. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, total factor productivity, and the Stochastic production frontier model. The study revealed that a large portion of the land (over 94%) used for rice production was acquired through inheritance mode of land acquisition and communal type of land tenure system widely practised. The result of total factor productivity indicated that 62.18% of the rice farmers were at a sub-optimal productivity level. The results of the stochastic production frontier function revealed that seed (P< 0.10), and fertilizer application (P<0.01) were the significant factors influencing the technical efficiency of rice production in the study area. Based on the findings, the study recommends that the current land use act and policy should be amended to prevent concurrent grabbing of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes to enhance the availability and accessibility of land for agriculture.

Prospek Swasembada Beras di Provinsi Kalimantan Timur

Rice self-sufficiency in Indonesia remains a national priority program since rice is a staple food of the majority of the population. This national program has become an economic development agenda in almost all local governments at the provincial and district levels. East Kalimantan Province is one of the provinces that set the rice self-sufficiency on the local medium-term planning (RPJMD) 2013-2018. This research generally aimed at analyzing the prospect of rice self-sufficiency in East Kalimantan Province. Specifically, the research aimed to measure the potential for developing rice in East Kalimantan Province and to analyze the production technical efficiency of rice farming. The data used in this research were national and provincial agriculture land area and 337 units of rice farm from Agricultural Census 2013. Using LQ (Location Quotient) method indicated that economically rice was not a basic commodity of East Kalimantan Province. At the provincial level, there were only two out of four districts that had rice as a basic commodity. Stochastic production frontier analysis showed that the technical efficiency of rice production was 0.64, which indicated that rice production in the province was 36 per cent below its production frontier. Planting patterns and land status significantly improved technical efficiency. From this research can be concluded that the self-sufficiency program in East Kalimantan Province was not supported by regional potential of rice production nor by technically efficient rice production at the farm level.

Analysis of technical efficiency of rice production in Anambra State, Nigeria

Technical efficiency of rice farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria using stochastic frontier production function was studied. Multistage random sampling techniques were used to select 120 rice farmers. Structured questionnaire complimented with oral interview were used to collect data from the respondents for the study. The result showed that the estimated level of technical efficiency was ranged between 24 % - 94 %. Also, the determinants factors to technical efficiency of the rice farmers were age of the farmers, level of education and extension services. The major constraints to rice production in the study area were pest and disease (92 %), poor access to credit (83 %), high cost of labour (67 %). Policy options aimed at enhancing farmers’ access to improved rice varieties, paddy, pesticides, and credit facilities and educational programs were proffered.

Technical efficiency of rice production in terai district of Nepal


 This paper aimed to estimate the technical efficiency of rice production, also identifying the factors affecting technical efficiency. Jhapa, the Terai district of Nepal, having the highest rice production in the country, was purposely selected for the study. The primary information was collected from 100 rice growing farmers, randomly selected from the sampling frame, using the pre-tested semi-structured interview schedule. Also, two Key Informant Surveys were done. Besides, the secondary information was collected by reviewing the related literatures. Descriptive statistics, stochastic frontier model with Cobb-Douglas production function, and tobit model were used for data analysis. The stochastic production frontier model revealed that with the increase in seed, chemical fertilizer, human labor, and tractor power by 1 percent, the rice yield increases by 0.25 (P<0.05), 0.15 (P<0.01), 0.13 (P<0.05) and 0.21 (P<0.01) percent respectively. The average technical efficiency of the rice growing farmers in the study area was estimated 92%; in addition, majority of the farmers (62%) were operating at an efficiency level of 0.91- 0.95 followed by 32% at 0.86- 0.90. The tobit regression model revealed that farming experience (P<0.01), membership of the organization (P<0.01), and major occupation being agriculture (P<0.05) have statistically significant and positive on technical efficiency; while, schooling years (P<0.05) and number of economically active family members (P<0.05) have statistically significant but negative effect. There is still scope to increase the rice yield through efficient use of available resources with existing technologies.

Comparative study on technical efficiency of mechanized and traditional rice farm in Nepal

The study was conducted among 274 mechanized and 220 traditional rice farms using multistage sampling technique to assess the technical efficiency in rice production among mechanized and traditional farmers in Jhapa, Sunsari and Bardiya districts. The Cobb-Douglas functional form of the stochastic production frontier was employed to obtain the technical efficiency in mechanized and traditional rice farms. The overall technical efficiency of the mechanized and traditional rice farm ranged from 40.31 to 92.23 and 31.21 to 85.02%t with the mean technical efficiency of 80.56 and 70.11% respectively. The scope of increasing output by adopting the technology adopted by the best performer was 19.44% in mechanized and 29.89% in traditional rice farm respectively. Majority of the farmers were operating at an efficiency level 70-80% and 60-70% in mechanized and traditional farms respectively. The average technical efficiency of mechanized rice farm was higher than that of traditional rice farm and the difference was significant. There was scope of increasing output through rational use of existing resources in both farm categories. Manures, chemical fertilizers had significant and positive effect to total yield of rice kg/ha. The effect of machine use to total yield of rice was positive and significant. Rice farms adopting machines were more technically efficient compared to traditional rice farm.

Technical Efficiency of Rice Production Using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis Approach: Case In East Java Province

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of East Java rice production in 2018. This study uses a model for measuring the efficiency of stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Empirical results of these findings indicate that the efficiency of rice production in East Java in 2018 was said to be very efficient in several districts and towns affected by the variable dry milled grain / GKG and irrigation variables, although there are still some districts and towns that cannot be said to be productive. Additionally, the explanatory variable of population growth affects the technical inefficiency of East Java rice production in 2018. Based on the results of this study's review, the practical implications for the government must continue to work to increase the scale and impact of efficiency on rice production, particularly on adding irrigated land to rice commodities, so that rice production can increase to the maximum and domestic food needs can be satisfied. Since the population of Indonesia continues to rise significantly, and rice is in fact a staple food for the people of Indonesia, rice production needs to be increased to ensure national social security. For this reason, it is necessary for the government to pay more attention to policies regarding the use and addition of paddy fields in order to keep optimum domestic rice production.

Technical Efficiency of Rice Production Using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis Approach: Case In East Java Province

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of East Java rice production in 2018. This study uses a model for measuring the efficiency of stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Empirical results of these findings indicate that the efficiency of rice production in East Java in 2018 was said to be very efficient in several districts and towns affected by the variable dry milled grain / GKG and irrigation variables, although there are still some districts and towns that cannot be said to be productive. Additionally, the explanatory variable of population growth affects the technical inefficiency of East Java rice production in 2018. Based on the results of this study's review, the practical implications for the government must continue to work to increase the scale and impact of efficiency on rice production, particularly on adding irrigated land to rice commodities, so that rice production can increase to the maximum and domestic food needs can be satisfied. Since the population of Indonesia continues to rise significantly, and rice is in fact a staple food for the people of Indonesia, rice production needs to be increased to ensure national social security. For this reason, it is necessary for the government to pay more attention to policies regarding the use and addition of paddy fields in order to keep optimum domestic rice production.

Extent of farm mechanization and technical efficiency of rice production in some selected areas of Bangladesh

The research has been conducted to explore the extent of adopting mechanization at farm level and its impact on rice producers’ technical efficiency. Primary data and information required for analytical approach have been collected using structured questionnaire through field survey of 200 farm households located in two districts of Bangladesh. Farm households were selected following multi-stage purposive sampling technique and were classified into two groups on the basis of extent of using modern agricultural practices. Technical efficiency is the ratio between actual and potential output of a production unit. Farmers strongly agree that farm mechanization save their precious time which they spend for farming period and also increased overall food production. They also agree that the use of modern machinery improve their consumption level as well as food security. From the profitability analysis of two levels of mechanization, it is apparent that mechanization has positive impact and leading to increase productivity and profitability of rice producers. The results from DEA approach implies that farms with higher level of mechanization are technically more efficient than the others although both farm groups are technically inefficient in rice production. The findings from Tobit regression show that variables such as farming experience, age and levels of farm mechanization were significantly associated with the technical efficiency of sample farms. Inefficiency of farms is negatively influenced by the level of farm mechanization indicated that mechanization is one of the important determinants to improve technical efficiency. So, the applications of modernized farming machineries could be an essential tool for the development of agricultural sector in Bangladesh.

The Role of Agricultural Extension Worker and Babinsa TNI According to the Farmer's Perspective on The Implementation of Rice UPSUS Program in Gorontalo

This study aims to analyze the role of Babinsa-TNI and field extension worker (PPL) assistance to the implementation of UPSUS programs and the success of UPSUS targets (increased production). The study was conducted at the UPSUS rice production center in Gorontalo Province, i.e; Bone Bolango District, Gorontalo Regency and North Gorontalo Regency. Sampling was done by simple random sampling method involving 162 respondent farmers during 2017. The measuring method to the role of Babinsa-TNI and field extension worker wasdone by Work Achievement Value Standard. The influence of Babinsa-TNI and field extension workerwas analyzed using the production analysis method usingproduction function of Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier analysis. The results showed that the average Babinsa-TNI and field extension workerhad good performance in terms of high scoring value indicator. The Babinsa-TNI assistance in implementing the UPSUS program has a significant effect on increasing production and technical efficiency of rice production. The assistance of agricultural extension worker also has a positive effect on increasing production and technical efficiency of rice production.

Technical efficiency of rice production in Thailand: copula-based stochastic frontier model

The study aims to investigate Thai rice production efficiency with the copula-based stochastic frontier model to draft general statistical data for Thai agriculture development in the future. The empirical results show that land and fertilizer have an indisputably positive and significant effect on rice production. The SFM with Gaussian copula has the lowest value regarding to AIC. The best average TE score belongs to the northern region followed by the central region, the north-eastern region, and the southern region with their average scores of 0.86, 0.819, 0.76 and 0.74, respectively. The interesting point is that, even with highest efficiency score, there is the largest gap between the highest and the lowest scores within central region provinces, followed by north-eastern, central and northern regions with their values of 0.2, 0.18, 0.15 and 0.08, respectively.