Determining the technical efficiency level of oily sunflower production by Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) Method: the case of Thrace Region, Turkey.

This research aims to measure the efficiency in agricultural enterprises producing sunflower oil inThrace Region and also to determine the causes of inefficiency. The data of the study have beenobtained from 571 agricultural enterprises, which have been determined by using the StratifiedSampling Method, producing sunflower on an area of approximately 5400 hectares. StochasticFrontier Analysis method has been used to measure the technical efficiency scores of the enterprisesexamined in the study. Data regarding five inputs is used in the function for Stochastic FrontierAnalysis. Also five variables have been included in the technical inefficiency model. According to theresults of the analysis, the efficiency scores of the examined enterprises ranged between 0.29 and 0.96,while the average efficiency score has been obtained as 0.80. According to these findings, an averageenterprise predicts that sunflower yield can be increased by 17% without making a change in theamount of input it uses. However, it has been calculated that the enterprises operating at a minimumlevel can increase the sunflower yield by 70%. In the recent study, it has been determined that thesunflower yield per unit area is positively related to the use of seeds, labor and fuel, whereas it isnegatively related to the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Findings, which have been obtained in thestudy, state that increasing the amount of seeds, labor and fuel will raise the amount of sunflowerproduced, while increasing the amount of fertilizer and pesticides used will cause a decrease in theamount of sunflower obtained. In the study, according to the γ parameter calculated for theinefficiency model in oil sunflower production, it has been concluded that 91% of the variation insunflower yield is caused by technical inefficiency. The coefficients of age, education and number ofparcels in the inefficiency model are negative. This situation indicates that those enterprise ownerswho are older, have a higher education level, and have more parcels are more effective. However, theresults of the research have revealed that the coefficient of the sunflower cultivation area variable hasa positive sign and the inefficiency increases as the cultivation area raises in the examined enterprises.&nbsp;<br>