Technical efficiency among pepper farmers in Sarawak, Malaysia: A stochastic Frontier analysis

Abstract

This study aimed to estimate the technical efficiency among pepper (Piper nigrum. L) farmers in Sarawak, Malaysia, using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). SFA involves a one-step process that can estimate technical inefficacy factors simultaneously with the production frontier. 678 pepper farmers were involved in this study, and the data were collected from 2012 to 2013. The mean score for technical efficiency was 0.518, indicating that pepper farmers were not efficient. However, the inefficiency model showed that education level, membership in farmers’ association, full-time as a pepper farmer, attending courses and visiting sample farms were factors that significantly improved inefficiency. The major problem of pepper farming in Sarawak is poor agricultural practices where farmers do not fully utilize the available agricultural inputs to produce maximum output. Based on the findings, farmers must improve their knowledge and skills in pepper farming through agronomic education.