Efficiency in the Rice Farming: Evidence from Northwest Bangladesh

Shokhrukh-Mirzo Jalilov, Mohammed Mainuddin, Md. Maniruzzaman, Md. Mahbubul Alam, Md. Towfiqul Islam and Md. Jahangir Kabir
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Mohammed Mainuddin: CSIRO Land and Water, Black Mountain Science and Innovation Park, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
Md. Maniruzzaman: Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur 1707, Bangladesh
Md. Mahbubul Alam: Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur 1707, Bangladesh
Md. Towfiqul Islam: Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur 1707, Bangladesh
Md. Jahangir Kabir: Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur 1707, Bangladesh

Agriculture, 2019, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: Rice production takes a leading role in the agricultural sector of Bangladesh contributing to 35% of the gross value added of total agricultural production (December 2011), employing 48% of the rural workforce. While the country achieved self-sufficiency in rice, continuous population growth requires Bangladesh to further increase the production of this staple cereal. However, considering the steady decline of the cropped area and available rural workforce, such increase could be reached by increasing the efficiency in rice production. This study aims to examine the resource use efficiency and its drivers in the performance of rice farms in the Northwest region of Bangladesh, which is considered as the food bowl of the country. The study applied a two-stage approach of Data Envelopment Analysis followed by Ordinary Least Squares to estimate the impact of contextual variables on rice production. The empirical research results show that 83% of rice farms among the sample of 184 farms are efficient being located on efficiency frontier, while the 2% farms are inefficient and could improve their efficiency. The remaining 15% of farms are at level that is close to the efficiency frontier. Such factors as the cost of irrigation, pest control, and crop harvesting and carrying are the main drivers of efficiency amongst the considered rice farms.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis (DEA); efficiency; ordinary least squares (OLS); rice; northwest Bangladesh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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