Investigating the Factors Affecting the Efficiency of Rice mills of Mazandaran Province

Rice Mills are one of the oldest and most important agricultural conversion industries in Mazandaran province. Despite the large number of these units in Mazandaran province, so far little research has been done to measure their efficiency. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors affecting the efficiency of these units. To achieve the objectives of the study, 167 questionnaires were completed by random sampling from different cities of the Mazandaran province in 2018. The Tobit model was used to identify the factors affecting the performance of units. The results of Tobit model showed that the coefficients of potential unit capacity, the number of working days, the energy cost share of the costs, higher education than manager's diploma, manager's age, workers' training programs, advertising and city (Abbas Abad, Noshahr, Chalus and Tonekabon) variables, respectively 0.001, -0.003, -0.003, -0.06, -0.11 and -0.08 effect on efficiency. Among these, variables of paddy capacity, number of days of activity, advertising, share of energy costs and manager age have a significant effect on efficiency. The variables of manager's education (-0.04 uneducated), advertising (0.032) and location unit (-0.03) have the most impact on the efficiency of rice mills unit. Based on the results of this research, suggestions such as training courses, payment facilities and changing the status of traditional units to modern have been provided with all due regard.