Technical Efficiency of Wheat Production in the Gezira Scheme

Abstract

This study was carried out to measure the technical efficiency
of wheat production in the Gezira scheme and to determine the most
important socio-economic factors affecting this efficiency, using the
stochastic production frontier model. Primary and secondary data were
used. The former were collected from a random sample of 100 farmers
from Waddel Mansi sector of the Gezira scheme, while the latter were
collected from relevant sources. The results showed that the mean
technical efficiency was 0.73, which means that the scheme produced
73% of the possible wheat production at the current levels of production
inputs and technology. In other words, wheat production could have been
increased by 27%, at the same levels of inputs had farmers been
technically efficient. The results also showed that 97% of wheat output
deviations from normal were caused by differences in farmers' levels of
technical efficiencies and were not due to the out of control random
nature of the agricultural production. Wheat area, sowing date, degree of
infection with pests and diseases, number of insufficient irrigations and
farmers' experience appeared to be the most important factors determining
wheat output in the Gezira scheme. The off-farm income appeared to have
negative effects on wheat production, because of its timing contradictions
with some important agricultural operations. The farmers' gender, land
tenure, land preparation, marital status and farm location with respect to
the irrigation canal, represented the most important socio-economic
factors determining farmers' efficiencies of wheat production in the
Gezira scheme.