Determinants of technical efficiency of small-scale rice farmers in Edo North Ecological Zone, Edo State, Nigeria

The study estimated technical efficiency of farmers with a view to isolate significant factors that affect farmer’s efficiency in the study area. A two-stage sampling procedure involving purposive and simple random sampling was used to select 250 rice farmers for the study. Data were obtained using a structured questionnaire which was administered to the farmers. The data obtained were analyzed with the use of descriptive statistics and stochastic production function through Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) method using the computer program for frontier version 4.1. Results show that most (68.4%) of the small-scale rice farmers were male and 78.4% were married with mean age of 43 years, as well household size of 7 persons respectively in the study area. About 86% of the farmers had formal education, with about 13 years-experience in rice farming and an average farm size of 2.9 hectares. Most (51.6%) of the farmers had contact with Extension Agent and use hired labour (54.8%). Average farm net income for the rice farmers was ₦599,681.28 per hectare. The MLE for technical efficiency shows that farm size, seeds herbicides and pesticides use influenced output of rice production in the study area while farming experience (-2.4260), literacy level (-02.6402, age of farmers (-2.6402) and source of capital (-1.3329) respectively jointly contributed to increase farmers efficiency in the study area. The study concluded that rice farming is profitable in the study area and recommends implementation of an integrated rice farming development program combining education, mentorship, financial support, and enhanced extension services. Focus on optimizing farm management, increasing technical efficiency, and boosting profitability across diverse farmer demographics.