Measurement Of Technical Efficiency In Irrigated Vegetable Production In Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study measured technical efficiency and identified its determinants in irrigated vegetable production in Nasarawa State of Nigeria using a stochastic frontier model. A complete enumeration of 193 NADP-registered vegetable farmers was done. The predicted farm technical efficiency ranges from 25.94 to 96.24 per cent with average of 56.75, 52.13 and 68.92 per cent in Nasarawa south, Nasarawa north and Nasarawa west respectively. The wide variation in the technical efficiency suggests that there is tendency for increasing vegetable production and farmers' income through improvements in technical efficiency. Education, farming experience and farm size were found to be positively and significantly related to technical efficiency in the vegetable farming.

Keywords: Stochastic frontier, technical efficiency, vegetable production

Journal of Agriculture, Forestry and the Social Sciences Vol. 4 (2) 2006: pp. 33-39