Comparative analysis of technical efficiency between traditional and improved rice variety farmers in Nigeria

This study examined technical efficiency differentials between farmers planning traditional rice varieties and those planning improved varieties in Nigeria. The study employed a multistage random sampling procedure for the selection of 302 respondents across four major rice producing states in the country. The main analytical technique used was estimation of technical efficiency following Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) Procedure available in Frontier 4.1. Results that emanated from these analyses showed that significant increase recorded in output of rice in the country could be traced mainly to area expansion. Other variables that tended to contribute to technical efficiency were; hired labour, herbicides and seeds. The estimated average technical efficiencies for the two groups were correspondingly high (>0.90). Further analysis showed that farmers in both categories were operating at a point of increasing return to scale. The test of hypothesis on the differentials in technical efficiency between the two groups of farmers showed that there was no absolute differential in technical efficiency between them. African Journal of Economic Policy Vol. 11(1) 2004: 91-108