Crop farming and technical efficiency of tea production nexus: An analysis of environmental impacts

This article aims to analyze the impact of ecological aspects on technical efficiency (TE), especially for tea farmers in Vietnam. First, farm-level data of tea farmers from 245 mountain regions are selected and used. Secondly, a four-component stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) strategy is applied to measure the impact of ecological aspects on TE of regional tea farmers. The results of the frontier of production indicate that the average TE of the tea farmers is calculated at about 38%, which is relatively low. Among environmental factors, only financial support for organic tea production has shown a certain improvement over the impact of TE in terms of tea production. Other variables, such as age and contract farming, have shown a positive effect on TE for tea farmers. The research results also indicate that there is considerable space to improve the efficiency of the production of the study area. The government of Vietnam should take important steps regarding technology innovation, policy, promotion of current subsidies, risk management, and the upgrade of TE in tea farming.