Factors influencing the productivity and efficiency of wheat farmers in Punjab, Pakistan

Scientists in Pakistan are currently developing biofortified wheat varieties to address widespread zinc deficiency, especially among women and children in poorer rural households. The purpose of this paper is to understand how the productivity and efficiency of small-scale and marginal wheat farmers...

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Autores principales: Battese, George E., Nazli, Hina, Smale, Melinda
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Emerald Publishing Limited 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147611
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author Battese, George E.
Nazli, Hina
Smale, Melinda
author_browse Battese, George E.
Nazli, Hina
Smale, Melinda
author_facet Battese, George E.
Nazli, Hina
Smale, Melinda
author_sort Battese, George E.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Scientists in Pakistan are currently developing biofortified wheat varieties to address widespread zinc deficiency, especially among women and children in poorer rural households. The purpose of this paper is to understand how the productivity and efficiency of small-scale and marginal wheat farmers can be improved so that their households may benefit from zinc-fortified varieties.The authors estimate a stochastic frontier production function model with data from a survey of wheat farmers conducted in Punjab, Pakistan in 2011.The productivities of the newer varieties of wheat were significantly greater than the older varieties, as expected. Farmers growing wheat in the rice-wheat and cotton-wheat zones tend to be more efficient than farmers from the mixed zone. Farmers who wait to adopt a leading variety are not less efficient than earlier adopters, but the longer the time until they switch varieties again, the more inefficient is their wheat production. Older farmers tend to be more technically inefficient than younger farmers, but the effect of education is not statistically significant. Wheat farmers with access to extension advice are more efficient. Farmers whose land suffered from severe salinity or severe toxicity are less productive and less efficient than others.The authors find no differences in technical inefficiency effects associated with growing the four most popular varieties, either grown alone or with other varieties – suggesting that no single leading variety should be targeted for biofortification. In contrast to some earlier studies, the authors find that small-scale farmers tend to be less technically efficient. This result underscores the need to specifically target this group in promotional programs, and also to complement these with reinforcement of agronomic recommendations.This project is part of the HarvestPlus program to determine the appropriate variety or varieties to biofortify with zinc so that Pakistan’s population can have better health and well-being. Further, the results show that there it is desirable to undertake further studies to improve the productivity and efficiency of wheat farmers in the Punjab, Pakistan to increase the health and well-being of the population in general.
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spelling CGSpace1476112025-12-08T10:29:22Z Factors influencing the productivity and efficiency of wheat farmers in Punjab, Pakistan Battese, George E. Nazli, Hina Smale, Melinda rural poverty productivity wheat Scientists in Pakistan are currently developing biofortified wheat varieties to address widespread zinc deficiency, especially among women and children in poorer rural households. The purpose of this paper is to understand how the productivity and efficiency of small-scale and marginal wheat farmers can be improved so that their households may benefit from zinc-fortified varieties.The authors estimate a stochastic frontier production function model with data from a survey of wheat farmers conducted in Punjab, Pakistan in 2011.The productivities of the newer varieties of wheat were significantly greater than the older varieties, as expected. Farmers growing wheat in the rice-wheat and cotton-wheat zones tend to be more efficient than farmers from the mixed zone. Farmers who wait to adopt a leading variety are not less efficient than earlier adopters, but the longer the time until they switch varieties again, the more inefficient is their wheat production. Older farmers tend to be more technically inefficient than younger farmers, but the effect of education is not statistically significant. Wheat farmers with access to extension advice are more efficient. Farmers whose land suffered from severe salinity or severe toxicity are less productive and less efficient than others.The authors find no differences in technical inefficiency effects associated with growing the four most popular varieties, either grown alone or with other varieties – suggesting that no single leading variety should be targeted for biofortification. In contrast to some earlier studies, the authors find that small-scale farmers tend to be less technically efficient. This result underscores the need to specifically target this group in promotional programs, and also to complement these with reinforcement of agronomic recommendations.This project is part of the HarvestPlus program to determine the appropriate variety or varieties to biofortify with zinc so that Pakistan’s population can have better health and well-being. Further, the results show that there it is desirable to undertake further studies to improve the productivity and efficiency of wheat farmers in the Punjab, Pakistan to increase the health and well-being of the population in general. 2017 2024-06-21T09:23:05Z 2024-06-21T09:23:05Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147611 en Emerald Publishing Limited Battese, George E.; Nazli, Hina; Smale, Melinda. 2017. Factors influencing the productivity and efficiency of wheat farmers in Punjab, Pakistan. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies 7(2): 82-98. https://doi.org/10.1108/JADEE-12-2013-0042
spellingShingle rural poverty
productivity
wheat
Battese, George E.
Nazli, Hina
Smale, Melinda
Factors influencing the productivity and efficiency of wheat farmers in Punjab, Pakistan
title Factors influencing the productivity and efficiency of wheat farmers in Punjab, Pakistan
title_full Factors influencing the productivity and efficiency of wheat farmers in Punjab, Pakistan
title_fullStr Factors influencing the productivity and efficiency of wheat farmers in Punjab, Pakistan
title_full_unstemmed Factors influencing the productivity and efficiency of wheat farmers in Punjab, Pakistan
title_short Factors influencing the productivity and efficiency of wheat farmers in Punjab, Pakistan
title_sort factors influencing the productivity and efficiency of wheat farmers in punjab pakistan
topic rural poverty
productivity
wheat
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147611
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