Yield gap in wheat production: an analysis of farm specific efficiency in bangladesh

Abstract

Wheat production can be enhanced by properly utilizing productive inputs and managing production factors effectively in order to meet the increasing demand for food. The primary goal of the current study was to discover and assess the potential for increasing wheat productivity by boosting farmers’ productive efficiency. The study employed farm level cross sectional data collected from 286 farm households of three major wheat growing areas in Bangladesh. Hundred percent farmers used modern variety of wheat in their production practices. The variety BARI Gom 30 produced highest yield (3006 kg/ha) followed by BARI Gom 32 (2934 kg/ha) and BARI Gom 33 (2902 kg/ha). Yield of wheat varied across locations and among farm categories. The average yield was found to be 3110 kg per hectare with highest average yield at Rajshahi followed by Jamalpur (2920 kg/ha). The yield of Jamalpur (2920 kg/ha) and Faridpur (2741 kg/ha) was less than the national average (3098 kg/ha). Among farm categories, large farmers produced highest yield (3016 kg/ha) followed by medium (2938 kg/ha) and small (2817 kg/ha) farmers. Full package of recommended production technologies was not adopted by the farmers. Other socioeconomic factors have also played roles in the variation in yields. The bio-physical constraints limiting wheat production were: lack of good quality seed, soil type, poor utilization of irrigation facilities etc. Among the socioeconomic factors, farmers’ contact with the extension worker had the positive and significant influence on yield implying that, wheat yield could be increased significantly by increasing farmers’ contact with the extension worker. The coefficient of plot tenancy dummy had negative sign for all areas implying that, wheat yield in the rented in plots were lower compared to that of own plots. Labor cost accounted the highest share of the total production costs (almost 18 percent) in all areas followed by fertilizer and irrigation cost. The rate of profit was also substantially higher for the farms in Rajshahi than that of Jamalpur and Faridpur. The share of returns from wheat output for different factors of production did not differ that much. Sowing time is an important factor for variation of wheat yield. The residual (or operator’s surplus) was positive in the cultivation of wheat in all the areas. The mean technical efficiency of wheat growers was 81 percent suggesting that there existed a technical inefficiency of 19 percent. The estimates of stochastic frontier production function model showed that fertilizer and irrigation have a significant positive impact on wheat production. The estimates of stochastic frontier cost function model showed that fertilizer price and sowing at optimum time would result in the decrease of production cost. Thus, farmers’ efficiency could be improved by 19 percent through the improvement of technical efficiency. The coefficients of farmers’ education, wheat farming experience, and training on wheat cultivation were negatively significant in the inefficiency effect models implying that inefficiency decreases with the increase in farmers education, wheat farming experience, and training on wheat. The yield gap-I was estimated at 1189,

1203 and 1148 kg/ha in Jamalpur, Rajshshi and Faridpur respectively resulting mostly from non-transferable components of technology and environmental factors. Yield gap-II was estimated at 1703, 1623 and 1826 kg/ha in Jamalpur, Rajshshi and Faridpur respectively. This was

attributed mainly to technical inefficiency. The biotic and abiotic factors were also combinedly responsible for yield gap II. The magnitude of yield gap II was almost parallel in three production environments. The study suggests that existence of some gaps in wheat yield, which may be reduced to some extent through policy interventions and adoption of improved technology.