Possibility of Improvement in Sorghum Production: A Comparative Study of Technical Efficiency in India and Nigeria

Abstract

This study analyzed and compared the technical efficiency of sorghum production in India and
Nigeria. Data were collected through a survey of 480 selected sorghum farmers; 240 from each country using
simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques simultaneously. The result of the stochastic
frontier production function analysis shows that the variance parameters, that is the sigma squared (δ2
) and
the gamma (γ) were statistically significant at 1 % level each for both states of sorghum production. The
coefficient of farm size, labour, fertilizer and chemicals were positive and significant for India while farm
size, labour and seed were positive and significant in Nigeria. Profit level can be increased in India by
increasing the amount of farm size, labour, fertilizer and chemicals and decreasing the use of seed while
Profit in sorghum production can be increased in Nigeria by increasing the amount of farm size, labour and
seed and decreasing the use of fertilizer and chemical. Mean technical efficiency were 0.6774 and 0.775 for
India and Nigeria respectively. Farmers operate at 32 %, and 22 %, for India and Nigeria respectively below
frontier level due to variation in technical, efficiency respectively. The inefficiency model shows that the
coefficient of Age and Literacy Level was negative a priori sign and in consonance with the a priori
expectation. It was concluded that the farmers in the Nigeria state are more efficient than the farmers in
Indian state.