Determinants of technical efficiency of wheat farms in Pakistan

Food security and economic growth are interrelated and supportive to each other during development process but cereal yield per hectare for pakistan compared to the developing counties is among the lowest. especially in wheat production,the level of technical efficiency of agricultural farms in pakistan is relatively low mainly because of comparatively old methods of production and inefficient use of farm inputs. this paper assesses and estimates the impact of different farm specific variables on efficiency of wheat producers in pakistan. the data on 120 wheat farms from sargodha region was collected in may,2014. data envelopment analysis (dea) has been employed for measuring technical efficiency whereas; tobit regression has been used to identify the factors associated with the technical efficiency. the mean level of overall technical inefficiency has been estimated to be 12 percent. this indicates that technical efficiency of the farmers can be increased by 12 per cent through adoption of best farm practices of the efficient farms in the sample. medium farmers appear as relatively more inefficient compared to small and large farms mainly because of their relatively less expenditure on fertilizers. the appropriate policy response would be to provide trainings to farmers and encourage the use of fertilizers and pesticides in optimal proportions. agricultural extension policy can also be reformed to reorganize the duties of extension officials so as they spend more time on field visits,thereby improving farmers' cultivation practices. © 2015 university of agriculture. all rights reserved.