Technical Efficiency and Determinants of Maize Production by Smallholder Farmers in the Moneragala District of Sri Lanka

Authors

  • Mohamed Esham

Abstract

Maze (Zea mays L.) is the second most important cereal crop after rice produced in Sri Lanka. The government of Sri Lanka has taken steps to expand maize production in the country. In the context of these initiatives; this paper analyzes empirically the technical efficiency of smallholder maize farmers in Sri Lanka using a stochastic frontier production methodology. A sample of 130 maize farmers belonging to four local administrative divisions of the Moneragala district was randomly selected. A well-structured, comprehensive interview schedule was used for data collection. The findings of the study revealed that the seeds, hired labor and land extent were found to positively influence maize production. The mean technical efficiency was 72%, implying that there was considerable room for improvement in maize productivity within the present state of technology. Access to hybrid maize seeds, age of farm household head and ownership of irrigated lowland were found to be significant factors determining production efficiency at the farm level. Policy implications drawn from the results include setting up of a mechanism to revamp farmer collective action through the formation of farmer groups so that smallholder land consolidation would be possible and interventions towards improving local production of high quality hybrid maize seeds in order to make them available to farmers at an affordable price. Moreover, the government should support the private sector to expand the existing contract farming schemes to remote rural areas.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p416

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Published

2014-12-09

How to Cite

Technical Efficiency and Determinants of Maize Production by Smallholder Farmers in the Moneragala District of Sri Lanka. (2014). Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(27 P1), 416. https://www.richtmann.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/view/5096