Measuring Technical Efficiency of Wheat, Barley and Lentil Production Farms at Al-Zerbeh Region in Aleppo

Abdullah Al-Youssef*(1) Ahmad Shams Aldien Shaaban(2) Jamila Dirbas(3) Abdulatef Al-Assaf(1) Isam Khalifeh(1) and Yasmeen Naal(1)

(1). Aleppo Research Center, General Commission for Scientific Agriculture Research (GCSAR), Damascus, Syria.

(2). Aleppo University Center for Strategic Studies and Research, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria.

(3). Cotton Research Administration, GCSAR, Damascus, Syria.

(* Corresponding author: Dr. Addullah Al-Youssef. Email: dr.abdalyoussef@gmail.com).

Received: 20/04/2017                                Accepted: 24/09/2017

Abstract

The aim of this research was to estimate production costs, and to compare technical efficiency levels and production gap of wheat, barley and lentil in the area within the project of enhancing food security in Arab Countries/Syria-Second Phase. The search conducted at Jabal Samaan region based upon 150 Questionnaires. The technical efficiency estimated by stochastic frontier analysis using Front 4.1 software. The results indicated an increase in the variable cost percentage of the total costs. The net profits were 650128, 458686 and 320021 S.P/ha for lentil, barley and wheat respectively. Averages technical efficiency were 81.5%, 67.3% and 82.9% for wheat, barley and lentil farmers respectively. Also, high significantly differences were found between actual and potential yield. Besides, lowest production gap was 340.3 (kg/ha) for lentil farmers, followed by wheat farmers (785.1 kg/ha), and finally barley farmers (1611 kg/ha).

Key Words: Production costs, Technical efficiency, Stochastic frontier analysis, Jabal Samaan.

Full paper in Arabic: PDF