Measuring productivity of soybean (Glycine max) production in the Gorgan County

Today, one of the most important goals for all countries is to get productivity improvement and then achieve economic growth via improving productivity. The aim of this study is to measure total productivity factor and its determinants for soybean farms in the Gorgan County as one of the main soybean production regions in Iran. To this end, first, total factor productivity (TFP) index is calculated by using the Tornqvist index and then, the relationship between TFP and age, experience, education and membership in cooperatives is estimated by the regression approach. This study was done as a survey and data were gathered by using questionnaires from 60 soybean farmers. The results showed that the TFP index varies from 0.37 to 1.82. About 46% of the farms had productivity less than the mean average. Also, experience, education and membership in cooperation factors had a positive and significant effect on TFP. Thus, improving them can help increase soybean production.