Technical Efficiency of Wheat Production in the Gezira Scheme A Case of Wad Elmensi Group

Abstract

This study was carried out in Wad-Elmansi block in Gezira Scheme covering the season 2007-2008. Presently people in the rural areas changing from a traditional local based consumption patterns an increased used of domestically produced and imported wheat products. The main purposes of the study are to measure technical efficiency of producing wheat, to determine main factors behind technical inefficiency, and to identify the socio-economic factors that affecting the level of efficiency of farmers. The study used primary and secondary data. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaire for 100 farmers in Wad-Elmansi block, and it covers the socio-economics characteristics of farmers, and the different inputs quantities used in agricultural practices. Secondary data were collected from different sources, which include Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MOAF), in addition to various documents, records, books, periodicals, reports and internet. The Stochastic Production Frontier (SPF) analysis was used to estimate the technical efficiency of producing wheat in the scheme, and to determine the factors behind inefficiency such as gender, age educational level, marital status and family size. Also, descriptive statistics were used to analyze the socio-economic characteristics of farmers. The result showed that most of the estimated β co-efficient of the stochastic frontier model for wheat production model have the expected signs, and significance. The mean technical efficiency is 73%. This means that the farmers can increase their wheat output by 27% through the better use of the farmers, available resources. The gender, the marital status and land tenure of farmers are significance in explaining technical inefficiency in Managil Extension, except the age, educational level and family size are not significance for wheat production. Lastly, in order to improve technical efficiency for wheat production in the area, the study recommended that improvement in finance, irrigation and early land preparation.