고추 생산농가의 기술적 효율성 분석

An Analysis on the Technical Efficiency of Red Pepper Farming in Korea

This study analyzed the technical efficiency and its determinants for Korean red pepper farming by using raw data of 366 farmers from Agricultural Production Cost Survey Report and Rural Farm Household Survey of the National Statistical Office from 2000 to 2002. The analysis was implemented through the Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier production function (C-D SFPF) model with the technical inefficiency effect model for panel data, and two models were estimated simultaneously. The technical efficiency of red pepper production was analyzed for five regions as well as for all regions in Korea. In order to estimate a C-D SFPF, red pepper output, land, labor, capital, fertilizer, and agricultural chemicals per farm as input variables were used. The following variables to estimate the inefficiency effect model were set: farmer s age and education, size of planted land, total labor hours, ratio of rental land to total land, regional dummy and time variable. The average technical efficiency on red pepper farmers in all regions of Korea from 2000 to 2002 is derived to be 0.891. It means there were technical inefficiency of about 10.9 percent in Korea red pepper farming. Accordingly, suggested are as follows. Firstly, the cultivation area of red pepper per farm should be enlarged in order to reduce production costs. Secondly, labor saving techniques should be developed especially in harvesting procedures by enhancement of mechanization ratio. Thirdly, effective disease control programs before infection should be to pestilence and/or anthracnose significantly made. Lastly, farmers with well educated farming technique should be fostered.