TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF SAWAH TECHNOLOGY IN RICE PRODUCTION AMONG SMALL SCALE FARMERS IN KEBBI STATE NIGERIA.

Abstract

The research examined the economics of Sawah technology in rice production among small scale farmers in Kebbi State Nigeria. The study specifically identified the drivers of usage of Sawah rice technology in the study area, estimated the technical efficiency of rice farms using Sawah rice technology and analyzed the effect of Sawah rice technology on the profit of rice farmers in the study. Three hundred respondents were sampled from the study area. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Gross margin analysis, logit model, stochastic frontier model and t-test. The Cobb-Douglas functional form of the stochastic production frontier was employed to estimate the technical efficiency of users and non-users of Sawah rice technology. For users of Sawah technology, all the variables (farming experience, household size, amount of credit obtained and membership of farm group) had negative and significant effect on technical inefficiency. For non-users, all the variables (years of Education, farming experience and membership of farm group) had negative and significant effect on inefficiency. The range of small-scale rice farmers' calculated technical efficiencies was 0.0536 to 99.5%, with an average of 56.7%. Sawah rice technology users had average technical efficiency values of 0.646, or 64.6%, while non-users had average technical efficiency estimates of 0.533, or 53.3%, correspondingly. The study therefore recommended that dissemination of sawah to other states in Nigeria need to consider factors that promote its adoption. Improvement of those factors that significantly affect adoption of sawah technology is also recommended.