TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN INTENSIVE RAINFED CROPPING SYSTEMS IN NORTHWEST LUZON, THE PHILIPPINES: A STOCHASTIC DISTANCE FUNCTION APPROACH

Farming in the rainfed lowlands of northwest Luzon, the Philippines, is highly intensive, diversified, and commercialized. The cropping system is predominantly rice-based in the wet season and high-value cash crops are grown during the dry season. Using panel data from 100 randomly selected farmers, a stochastic input distance function is used to investigate the technical efficiencies and scope economies in this environment. The average the technical efficiency estimates over the four-year period was about 68%. Results also show that significant scope economies exist between rice and major dry-season crops like garlic and mungbean. However, scope diseconomies exist between rice and maize.