Identifying the role of agricultural extension services in improving technical efficiency in the paddy farming sector in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The overall aim of this study is to identify the role of agricultural extension services in improving technical efficiency in the rice farming sector in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the study attempts to investigate how the agricultural extension service received by the farmers can improve technical efficiency (TE), using 200 farm-level data points in Ampara district in Sri Lanka. The Stochastic Production Frontier approach is used to estimate technical efficiency. Results show that the mean TE of rice farming in the study area is 0.61, although 54 % of rice farmers exceeded this average. This indicates that there is scope to further increase the output by 39 percent without increasing the level of input. It is also found that the contribution of the agricultural officers on increasing technical efficiency level is approximately 13 percent. This implies that production of paddy could be increased significantly by increasing the role of agricultural officers in the country. The overall findings of this research will help implement policies to increase the technical efficiency which is increasingly posing a major impediment to agricultural growth, environmental protection and sustainable development in any country.