Rahf Salman*(1), Shabab Nasser (2), Wael Habib (1), and Tayseer Hatem (1)
(1). Department of Agricultural Economics. General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR), Damascus, Syria.
(2). Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria.
(*Corresponding Author: Rahf Salman, E-Mail: SoRahf2015@gmail.com) .
Received: 9/10/2023 Accepted; 6/11/2023
Abstract:
The study was conducted on a sample of autumn sugar beet farmers in Al-Ghab region / Syria for the season 2018/2019, through a questionnaire specially prepared for this purpose for a random sample of 80 farmers. The research aimed to estimate the production function of the fall loop sugar beet crop, using the “Douglas Cup” model. The results showed that the production of autumn sugar beet is carried out in the economic production stage, which is the second stage of the law of decreasing yields, according to the elasticities of the production elements less than one, it was found that there is a significant positive effect on the level of 1% for the use of phosphate and nitrogen fertilizers, irrigation water, pesticides and herbicides, which reached production elasticities of 0.163, 0.136, 0.313, 0.027 and 0.017 each, respectively. Summing up the productive elasticities of the productivity elements of the Cobb-Douglas function gives us the total elasticity of this function, estimated at only 0.853. It is positive elasticity and less than the correct one, which also indicates that beet production in the study sample is within the decreasing marginal production stage, and it was generally found that the sample farmers could not achieve optimal economic efficiency to use each of the basic inputs, there is a severe shortage in the use of phosphate fertilizer and irrigation water resource, for phosphorus fertilizer: The economic efficiency factor for its use in beet production was 3.3, which means that the value of the marginal product of this resource is 330% higher than its price, As for the amount of irrigation water: the economic efficiency factor for its use in beet production was 5.5, which means that the value of the marginal product of this resource is about five times higher than its price, as farmers must increase the quantities used of these two fertilizers to the extent that the value of the marginal product is equal to the marginal cost.
Keywords: Autumn Sugar Beet production, Production Function, Cobb-Douglas, Production Flexibility, Economic Efficiency.
Full paper in Arabic: pdf