Economic Analysis of Transformation of Traditional Irrigation Systems to Modern Systems of Wheat Production in the Fars Province

In this study different irrigation methods of wheat in the Fars province were analyzed using metafrontier approach technological gap ratio. For this purpose, information about 100 farmers that were interviewed randomly in 2013 was used. The sample farms were divided into two groups (with and without sprinkler irrigation systems) based on the different irrigation methods. The results of estimating the regional frontier production function showed that the technical efficiency for the group with sprinkler irrigation system and the group without sprinkler irrigation system is 0.87 and 0.82, respectively. It means that these producers with a certain amount of average input produce about 87 percent and 82 percent of the product, respectively that could possibly be produced using the same amount of input and available technology. The technical efficiency relative to the metafrontier production function in the group with sprinkler irrigation system and in the group without sprinkler irrigation is 0.84 and 0.72, respectively. The technological gap ratio for the above two groups is 0.96 and 0.88, which means that the sprinkler irrigation system has a better technical performance, and it has a higher technological gap ratio when compared with the with no irrigation system. This is a promising point for policy makers in the field of agriculture since production level could be improved by improvement in the production techniques and proper use of available resources. The results of the factors that are effective in acceptance of technology of sprinkler irrigation system that was evaluated using the Probit model have showed that variables of farmer experiment, their attending extension classes, farmer’s property, loan, risky propensities and ownership of wells all have a positive and significant effect on acceptance of technology of sprinkler irrigation systems.