Abstract:
Among the vegetables, brinjal and tomato are the most important staple food for
the people , and the majority of the farmers depend on its cultivation for their
livelihood. Thus, increasing the production of these two vegetables through
improving
technical efficiency is an important goal of the agricultural sector.
In this background, this study aims to estimate the technical efficiency in
vegetable production and its determinants among the sample of vegetable
farmers in Jaffna district. For this, the farmers cultivating brinjal and tomato were
selected from two divisional secretaries, namely, Valikamam North and
Valikamam South in the district. From each vegetable, forty farmers were
selected randomly, and the data related to the amount of production and its
inputs, such as size of land, costs of seed, fertilizer cost and costs of labor were
collected through the questionnaire during the season 2022-2023. The non
parametric approach based on input-oriented data envelopment analysis was
used to estimate the technical efficiency, while the Tobit regression model was
used to analyze the determinants of technical efficiency in vegetable farming in
the study. The estimated results of technical efficiency for brinjal and tomato
were 37.6% and 48.2%, respectively, which revealed that average technical
efficiency estimates were not at the potential level, and there is ample room for
increased productivity through improving technical efficiency for both
vegetables by 62.4% and 51.8% in the study. Results of the Tobit regression
model revealed that family size, farming experience, type of land, whether tenant
land or own and the availability of off–farm income significantly increased the
technical efficiency of both brinjal and tomato production. To increase the brinjal
and tomato yields, farmers should be encouraged to engage in off–farm income
generating activities, which motivates them to increase their production
effectively in the future.
