Technical Efficiency of Ecologically Engineered Rice Production in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam: Application of SFA

Abstract

An overuse of agro-chemicals in rice production has caused serious problems on biodiversity loss, water pollution, public health impacts and yield losses. Recently, the outbreaks of brown-plant hoppers was a great matter of concern. To deal with these issues, the use of ecological engineering was introduced in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam since 2009. However, there were no study on the potential benefits of the model in terms of technical efficiency. Hence, the objective of this study is to estimate and compare the technical efficiency of ecologically engineered rice farmers to those with traditional rice by using stochastic frontier analysis. We have found that the eco rice farmers had higher input and output-oriented technical efficiency scores but insignificant compared to those with normal rice. The mean output-oriented technical efficiency of eco rice was 91.5%, which was 1% higher than that of traditional rice, 90.5%. Further, the mean input-oriented technical efficiency score of eco rice was 85% while only 83.5% for normal rice. The study suggests that the eco rice farmers need more efforts to expand output levels while the normal rice counterparts need to contract inputs level to improve productive efficiency and profits as well. The possible solution for the eco rice are not to use IR50404 variety. To improve the efficiency, the normal rice farmers need to cultivate three crops per year and to use OM6976 variety.