Application of Stochastic Production Frontier in the Estimation of Technical Efficiency of Irrigated Agriculture in Tunisia

In this study, we estimate agricultural technology for Tunisian peasants, accounting for the crop choice of perasants and distinguishing inputs for individual crops such as: vegetable farming cereal and fruit-trees. The study employed the use of cross-section data from distinguishable irrigated crops survey conducted on a sample of 218 farmers frome 11 regions in Tunisia. The data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire and were later analysed. The Cobb Douglass production frontier model is employed in order to analyse data collected. Among the irrigated crop farmers, the significant variables were: farmuar manuar fertiliser quantity, labor, mecanic traction and among of irrigated water applied. The estimated sigma square (σ2) and gamma (γ) are widely significants for all irrigated crops and revealed that >85% of the variation in the Tunisian irrigated output among farmers in the study area are due to the differences in their efficiencies. Howerver, we find that predicted technical efficiency widely varies across farms and crops from an average of 54.7% for vegetable farming up to 80.6% for fruit-trees. The study also revealed the existing on inefficiency effects among the farmers as: education, farmer s age, irrigation techniques, lack of education, property of land.