چکیده:
Although studies on the relation between size and efficiency are ample, studies
on the relation between size, fragmentation, and efficiency are limited. It is
the purpose of this study in which a single-stage stochastic parametric approach
is used. For this purpose production of wheat in Iran is a good case because
wheat is the core commodity of the Iranian agricultural system which is
dominated by small and fragmented family farms. The data comes from a survey of
wheat producers in West Azarbayjan province, a major agricultural region,
located in the north-west of Iran, in which around 50 percent of the lands under
annual crops is allocated to wheat, almost the same proportion as in the whole
country. Mean size of farmland in the sample was 2.2 hectares (10,000 meters)
ranging from 0.3 to 12 hectares; mean number of plots of land was 1.7 ranging
from 1 to 7 plots. It was found that mean technical efficiency was 63.4 percent
ranging from 11.6 to 95.1 percent. Significant inverse relation between total
costs of inputs, as index of size, and positive relation between number of plots
of land, as index of fragmentation, and technical inefficiency were found.
خلاصه ماشینی:
"The data comes from a survey of wheat producers in West Azarbayjan province, a major agricultural region, located in the north-west of Iran, in which around 50 percent of the lands under annual crops is allocated to wheat, almost the same proportion as in the whole country.
The stochastic parametric approach to measuring technical efficiencies was first independently suggested by Aigner, Lovell, and Schmit and also by Meeusen and Van den Broeck and made it possible to estimate the mean efficiency (inefficiency) of the sample producers.
Following most studies of technical efficiency in agriculture, Battese, Bravo-Ureta and Pinheiro, Coelli, and Thiam, Bravo-Ureta, and Rivas, in this study we use a Cobb-Douglas production function.
Discussion A study on wheat producers of the same region showed inverse relation between costs per hectare of producing wheat and size of the farm and positive relation with the fragmentation of the farm (Arsalanbod and Esmailpour) which are consistent with the results of this study, namely, there is positive relation between measures of efficiency with size and negative relation with fragmentation.
Battese, Malik, and Gill report that mean technical efficiencies of wheat producers in Pakistan, a neighbor country of Iran, has been 68 percent, 4.
Therefore it is hoped this study contributes to paying attention to further research on both the problem of inefficiency and its determinants in production of core agricultural commodities, especially in food importing countries like Iran."