Estimating the Technological and Economic Efficiency of Some Improved Varieties for Rice Crop Production in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate

Abstract

Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate is considered one of the governorates suitable for cultivating the rice crop in terms of the long experience of farmers, which makes the province have a comparative advantage in rice crop production, but the area planted with the crop decreased at the level of the Republic from about 1569 thousand feddans in 2000 to about 1307 thousand feddans in 2017, which is 16.7%, as well as the governorate of Kafr Fashikh decreased from about 283 thousand feddans in 2000 to about 258 thousand feddans in 2017, at a rate of 8.8%, although the governorate contains new reclaimed areas, and this requires identifying the reasons for farmers' reluctance to grow the rice crop in the Kafr El-Sheikh governorate Which requires measuring the efficiency of resources production used in the production of the crop. The research aims to study the possibility of achieving the technological and economic efficiency of the various agricultural resources used for the rice crop to achieve the maximum return in a way that supports the expansion of cultivation of crop varieties, in an attempt to raise the efficiency of the use of available economic resources which is reducing costs to the lowest level to achieve the maximum profit possible, and to achieve this goal the study used a method Analyzing the data envelope (DEA) to direct the resources used to grow rice varieties in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate in order to achieve economic efficiency, which works to expand the cultivation of these varieties. Three varieties were selected, Sakha 101, Giza 178, and Giza 177 because it is the largest area for cultivated varieties in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate. The study sample represents and the goal of choosing the three varieties is to compare the efficiency of these varieties, to reach the optimal farm size for each variety. The research reached a set of results, the most important of which are the superiority of technological efficiency indicators in light of the fixed and variable return of the capacity of the Giza 178 class compared to the Giza 177 and Sakha 101, where the average capacity efficiency of the third Giza 178 reached 96%, while the average reached about 92%, 93% For Giza 177 and Sakha 101 respectively. It was also found that the distributional efficiency of the economic resources used in the Giza 178 class was superior to that of Giza 178 and Sakha 101 in light of both stability and change in yield for the capacity. This indicates that the more cultivated area, the more efficient use of the resources used in production. The results of the study also showed that the economic efficiency of the Giza 178 variety has outperformed the other varieties under both stability and return of capacity, which indicates that the greater the cultivated area, the more efficient use of economic resources has been achieved, from which it is possible to estimate the optimum size of the resources used in the production of these Varieties and compare it with the actual size. When comparing the actual and optimal size of the resources used at the level of varieties, it becomes clear the importance of reducing the average actual area according to the concept of the variable return for capacity, where the amount of the surplus amounted to about 25%. And, the amount of chemical fertilizer, and the amount of irrigation water by about 12.8%, 24.7%, 16.14%, 8.65%, 28.44%, 31.24%, respectively, in order to achieve economic efficiency. The average actual area is around 24%, and it is necessary to reduce the quantities Attic used municipal compost, and the number of automated working hours, human and labor, and the amount of chemical fertilizer, the amount of seeds by about 44.5%, 55.5%, 34%, 35.6%, 40% respectively. It was estimated the amount of resources that can be provided, so it became clear that according to the borrowed return is better than the fixed return, as it can be provided in relation to the total varieties of the amount of pesticides about 0.25 kg with a value of 40 pounds, while the amount of savings for seeds amounted to 15.1 kilograms with a saving value of about 211 pounds. When the amount of savings for each of human work reached about 5.5 men/ day with a saving value of about 301 pounds, while the savings for the number of automated work hours reached about 1.52 hours/ farm with a saving value of about 184 pounds, while the amount of savings for each of the chemical fertilizers, 33 Unit nitrogen valued at 253 pounds. While the savings in the amount of water for irrigation reached about 1539 cubic meters, at a value of about 316 pounds. In light of the results, the research recommends the following: Country support for seed rice crops, especially for improved varieties, to increase their use by farmers. Activating the role of agricultural extension to transfer technical recommendations to farmer-producing producers in order to raise the technological and economic efficiency of the crop.