Efficiency Among Sugarcane Farmers of Bhirdachiwadi, Maharashtra: A Case Study

The paper seeks to measure the efficiency in sugarcane production in Satara district of Maharashtra employing frontier methods for a sample of 77 sugarcane farms in Bhirdachiwadi. The input oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model pointed to a substantial amount of inefficiency which was also corroborated by the findings of the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) model. The paper also found that the average input slack was the highest for repairs and purchase of machinery followed by that for fertilisers and labour. The Tobit analysis indicated that size of farm and off-farming income were the significant determinants of efficiency.