Comparative Analysis of technical efficiency of wheat production in row planting and broadcasting methods: Empirical evidence from southern Ethiopia

A Cobb–Douglas stochastic production frontier was used to analyze the technical efficiency of wheat producers under row planting and broadcasting methods in Hadiya zone, southern Ethiopia. The estimated results of the Cobb–Douglas frontier model show that the mean technical efficiency was 83.4% and 57.8% under row planting and broadcasting, respectively. Approximately 646.882 kg/ha under row planting and 1393.038 kg/ha under broadcasting of wheat output were lost due to inefficiency. This reveals that under the existing practices there is a room to increase wheat yield more under broadcasting (42.2%) than row planting (16.6%) following the best-practice farms in the study area. The SPF model indicates that NPS, urea, labour and seed are significant determinants of wheat production level in both methods. The estimated SPF model together with the inefficiency parameters show that education, age, fertility status of the plot, family size, land fragmentation and extension contact were the main factors that had a significant influence on technical inefficiency of wheat farmers. Hence, emphasis should be given to improving the efficiency level of those less efficient farmers by adopting the practices of relatively efficient farmers in the area.