Measuring Technical Efficiency of Wheat Farms in Punjab, Pakistan: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis Approach

Abstract

The wheat productivity in Punjab is less than the potential maximum due to imbalanced input use and farm management issues. Many studies have attemped to estimate technical efficiency of wheat crops using different techniques. However, most of them used limited datasets that focus on only a few districts. This study study uses a comprehensive dataset which is representive of Punjab province. We used farm-level panel survey data collected from 1581 farms in 17 districts of Punjab from 2005-06 to 2007-08. The technical efficiency of the wheat farms was analyzed using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) approach. Further, we identified the determinants of (in)efficiency using the same method. The results show that the mean technical efficiency of wheat farmers in Punjab is 84 percent indicating a considerable room for efficiency improvement. Further, the results indicate that technical efficiency could be improved by educating the younger farmers, building road infrastructure, and improving farmers’ access to essential inputs. The study supports the argument that wheat farmers are less technically efficient in Punjab, Pakistan.