Data envelopment analysis on efficiency of shallot production in Tra Vinh, Vietnam

Shallot is a perennial crop that is grown as an annual to harvest bulb seeds and produced widely in Vietnam. This is an easy-to-grow crop, suitable for land conditions in the local area and brings high economic efficiency. Although shallot is a relatively new crop to the farmers in Tra Vinh province, it is considered one of the key crops in the agricultural development strategy of the province. This study was conducted to assess the efficiency of shallot farming in Tra Vinh province using data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. The findings revealed that the average cost efficiency was 0.770 and only five farms (2.5%) were fully cost-efficient. The score for average allocative efficiency was slightly superior to that for technical efficiency (0.917 and 0.838); thus, inefficient shallot farms could reach higher cost efficiency by increasing technical efficiency. Accordingly, factors influencing technical and cost efficiency in shallot production were determined in this study. Household size and cultivation experience of the farmers demonstrated negative effects on the levels of technical and cost efficiency. The analysis further revealed that those shallot farmers who had larger shallot farm sizes and those who had better access to technical training tended to be more technical and cost-efficient. Consequently, this study suggests that research to improve shallot-farming techniques should be prioritised support and the quality of technical training programmes for local farmers needs to be raised to increase the technical and cost efficiency in shallot production