EFFECT OF PHYSICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURES ON EFFICIENCY OF RICE FARMERS

The aim of this paper is to identify the effect of physical and institutional infrastructure on rice productivity, the causes of the differences in rice productivity among the rice farmers, and the level of productivity of the rice farmers. A total sample of 90 rice farmers randomly selected from 9 clusters by selecting ten from each cluster. The stochastic frontier model used to analyse the data. The demography results show that male farmers 82.2% dominate rice farming and 65.6% of the respondents are within the economically active group (30 – 49) years. Further, 81.1% are married, 30% obtained tertiary education, while 51.2% have low-level education (primary and secondary education). 83.3% have more than six years of experience in rice farming, 76.7% have access to fertiliser, 48.9% have access to improved seed, and 37.8 have access to extension visit. The stochastic frontier results show that road networks, farm size, electricity, and education have a significant adverse effect on rice productivity, while improved seeds and climate change awareness have a significant positive effect on rice productivity. Also, the technical efficiency of an average rice farmer is 89.11%, the most inefficient rice farmer produces at 77.20% level while the most efficient rice farmer produces at 93.84% level. Furthermore, the inefficiency results show that qualification and marital status are positively significant, while access to improved seed is negatively significant. The study recommends further study to expand the sample to identify the specific problem of each rice cluster in the state.