Relative productive efficiency of different tenure classes in selected areas of Bangladesh

Field data based evidence presented in this study suggested that for measuring relative efficiency of different groups of farms, tenurial classification was more appropriate than size classification on the basis of land or any other singly input category. It was found that different tenure classes achieved different levels of efficiency but owner-operators were the most efficient. That means, taken as a whole, the farms did not achieve optimum level of efficiency in using resources from the point of view of the society. Relative inefficiency of tenure classes involving sharecropping (part-operators, part-tenants and tenants) implies that the existing pattern of resource ownership and property relations are improper for attaining higher level of efficiency. Development policy implies government policy. Since objectives and methods of governments differ according to ideologies, specific policy actions could not be recommended on the basis of the findings of this study. However, the findings indicated that any government with a genuine desire to develop the agricultural sector should initiate an agrarian reform programme by correcting the present maldistribution of land, labour and capital resources and by reorganizing the government institutions serving agriculture.