Technical Efficiency in Intensive Rainfed Cropping Systems

Farming in the rainfed lowlands of northwest Luzon, Philippines, is highly intensive,diversified, and commercialised. The cropping-system is predominantly rice-based in the wetseason and high-value cash crops are grown during the dry season. Using panel data from100 randomly selected farmers, a stochastic input distance function is used to investigatetechnical efficiencies and scope economies in this environment. The average technicalefficiency estimates over the four-year period was 68 per cent. Results also show thatsignificant scope economies exist between rice and the major dry-season crops of garlic andmungbean. Scope diseconomies exist between rice and maize.