ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS AFFECTING THE EFFICIENCY OF BUFFALO MILK PRODUCTION IN BAGHDAD GOVERNORATE

This study aimed to estimate the efficiency of buffalo milk production and address the most important economic and social factors that affect the production of buffalo milk in Baghdad Governorate. A random sample of 96 out of a total of 1600 breeders was taken at a rate of (6%). The stochastic production frontier function was estimated using the maximum likelihood (ML) method between the total milk production and the quantities of production inputs, which included (total production, the quantity of dry fodder, green fodder, concentrated fodder, the number of hours of human work, medicines, vaccines, and energy) in the efficiency model, and social factors such as the family members, experience, education, number of reproduction, and age were included in the inefficiency model. The estimated parameters gave the expected signal and were statistically significant below the 5% level, except for dry food and energy. The total elasticity of productive factors was about 1.0868, which is greater than the correct one, which reflects increasing returns to scale. The average technical efficiency in the study area was (76.6%), and the efficiency ranged between (43% - 100%). This average indicates the possibility of increasing technical efficiency at a rate of (23.4%) if the causes that lead to low efficiency are addressed. In light of these results, we can conclude that there is a possibility of increasing the production of buffalo milk. This study suggests buffalo breeders should replace older buffaloes with new females, and adhere to necessary medications and vaccines to maintain the herd's health