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A Generalized Stochastic Production Frontier Analysis of Technical Efficiency of Rice Farming: A Case Study from Assam, India

Author

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  • Aditi Bhattacharyya

    (Department of Economics and International Business, Sam Houston State University)

  • Raju Mandal

    (Department of Economics, Assam University, Silchar, India)

Abstract

Purpose: This study analyzes farm-level technical inefficiency of rice farming in Assam, India, using a multiple-output generalized stochastic frontier framework. Design/Methodology/Approach: Primary data for this study was collected in 2009-2010 from 310 farm-households in four non- contiguous districts of Dhubri, Morigaon, Dibrugarh, and Cachar that are located in different agro-climatic regions of Assam. Based on a Cobb-Douglas production function for multiple rice varieties, the paper simultaneously estimates the Generalized Stochastic Production Frontier and examines effects of exogenous factors on farm-level technical inefficiency. Findings: Results of this study show that the average technical inefficiency of farms is 8.5% in the sample. Further, inefficiency is lower in the frequently flood prone areas, and availability of government support helps reduce such inefficiency as well. However, technical efficiency is higher for the Muslim farm-households, and it decreases with greater land fragmentation. The study also finds that the use of primitive technology like bullock reduces technical effciency of rice farming. Originality/Value: This paper is based on a novel data set that has specially been collected to examine productivity and efficiency of rice cultivation in the flood plains of Assam that has not been studied before. Further, to the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first one to model rice production as a multiple-output stochastic production frontier and analyze technical efficiency of rice production accordingly.

Suggested Citation

  • Aditi Bhattacharyya & Raju Mandal, 2016. "A Generalized Stochastic Production Frontier Analysis of Technical Efficiency of Rice Farming: A Case Study from Assam, India," Working Papers 1603, Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:shs:wpaper:1603
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Raju Mandal, 2014. "Flood, cropping pattern choice and returns in agriculture: A study of Assam plains, India," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 333-344.
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    7. Mazumder, Ritwik & Gupta, Manik, 2013. "Technical Efficiency And Its Determinants In Backward Agriculture: The Case Of Paddy Farmers Of Hailakandi District Of Assam," Journal of Regional Development and Planning, Rajarshi Majumder, vol. 2(1), pages 35-53.
    8. Bozoglu, Mehmet & Ceyhan, Vedat, 2007. "Measuring the technical efficiency and exploring the inefficiency determinants of vegetable farms in Samsun province, Turkey," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 649-656, June.
    9. Jondrow, James & Knox Lovell, C. A. & Materov, Ivan S. & Schmidt, Peter, 1982. "On the estimation of technical inefficiency in the stochastic frontier production function model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2-3), pages 233-238, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Amit Kumar Srivastava & Suranjana Bhaswati Borah & Payel Ghosh Dastidar & Archita Sharma & Debabrat Gogoi & Priyanuz Goswami & Giti Deka & Suryakanta Khandai & Rupam Borgohain & Sudhanshu Singh & Asho, 2023. "Rice-Fallow Targeting for Cropping Intensification through Geospatial Technologies in the Rice Belt of Northeast India," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1, July.
    2. Raj bahadur Singh Chandel & Aftab Khan & Xiaojing Li & Xianli Xia, 2022. "Farm-Level Technical Efficiency and Its Determinants of Rice Production in Indo-Gangetic Plains: A Stochastic Frontier Model Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-16, February.
    3. Karabi Das & Debarshi Das, 2020. "Technical Efficiency in Small Tea Gardens of Assam," Review of Development and Change, , vol. 25(1), pages 112-130, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Generalized Stochastic Production Frontier; Rice Farming; Technical Inefficiency; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets

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