Economic analysis of mechanization and technical efficiency in sugar beet farms: case study in Fars province

In this paper the use of farm machinery in sugar beet farms in Fars province was studied. The necessary data, with two-stage cluster sampling method in Fasa, Eghlid and Darab cities on 2004- 2005 were collected. From 203 farmers selected for the study. 113 of them were in high level mechanization group and 90 of them were in low level mechanization group. In this study, the effect of farm machinery in production, comparison of inputs amount usage and comparison of productivity and efficiency in 2 mentioned groups were considered. The results of study showed significant differences in yield average, machinery operation cost and irrigation. The study of mechanization usage showed that machinery activity cost had more influence on farm production. Variable coefficient of machinery activity cost factor in this model was 0.311. Based on the results, technical efficiency of low level mechanization groups wasn’t non possibility calculate, the maximum and minimum technical efficiency of high level mechanization groups were 99% and 11% respectively and its average was 58.4%. These findings show that no change is technology or inputs are needed to decrease difference.