| In this study, we have attempted to empirically assess the efficiency of a sample of Bangladeshi farmers in the cultivation of rice, the most important crop in the country. That sample is drawn from Khilghati, a village lying about 95 miles north of the capital city of Dhaka. Our empirical analysis is based on survey data collected by Khandker (1982) for the 1981-82 crop year.;Several implications follow from our findings. Farmers appear to be as efficient in the new-technology Boro crop as in the traditional Aman and Aus crops. A policy of encouraging the adoption of such HYV crops is thus well-founded. However, attention clearly needs to be paid to improving farmer skills within the existing crops. For instance, rural development policies could be geared to improving allocative skills, perhaps through rural education, and more effective management of extension services and rural co-operatives. Our estimates point to a substantial cost saving via such an improvement. Those policies would probably have to take account of possible differences in efficient cultivation practices across crops. Policies aimed at improving the efficiency of highly scarce inputs such as land could also go a long way towards improving the overall efficiency of farmers. In fact, since the relative price of land can be expected to increase over time, the cost reductions by improving the efficiency of land use could be substantial. Finally, it may be that institutional constraints on individual behaviour foster inefficiency. For example, the lack of access of smaller farmers to credit, government-supplied chemical fertilizer and public services may lead them to make inefficient choices. Ensuring greater access to those farmers could be important in promoting greater efficiency. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
