DETERMINANTS OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN CROP PRODUCTION AMONG SOME COMMERCIAL CROP FARMERS IN NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was designed to find out the determinants of technical efficiency in production of some commercial crops in Niger State.  Primary data was used for the study. Crop production was found to be inelastic with a decreasing return to scale for the farmers. The distribution and level of technical efficiencies for the farmers examined was found to be 74.2%. There was a significant difference in the technical efficiency level obtained.  The determinants of technical efficiency observed in the study were age, household size, education level, farming experience and credit access for the farmers. The result showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between the socio-economic factor and technical efficiency in crop production. It further indicated that 3.9% of the total variation in aggregate food crop production by these farmers was due to technical inefficiency. The study concluded that crop farmers are yet to achieve their best, as shown by their low technical efficiency (TE) value and low output levels, thus, calling for critical examination of technical efficiency, as a means of examining the role of higher efficiency level on agricultural output, particularly in the study area.