Estimating Environmental Efficiency and Economic Losses of Sugar Beet Production in Urmia Lake Basin (Central and Nazlu Chay Districts)

The main objectives of this study are to estimate the input-oriented environmental efficiency of sugar beet production in Urmialake basin and the economic loss of its production.

The statistical population of this study was sugar beet farmers in the Central and Nazlu Chay distrcits of Urmia County, and the required data were collected randomly and through face-to-face interviews with 100 questionnaires from sugar beet producers in 2017-2018. To estimate the environmental efficiency, in which fertilizers and chemical pesticides were considered as detrimental inputs, the stochastic frontier function was used as a Translog functional form. Then, the economic losses of sugar beet production were calculated.

On the base of research findings, the average environmental efficiency was 58%, explaining that producers of sugar beet can keep consumption of other inputs constant, reduce the consumption of chemical inputs (fertilizers and chemical pesticides) by 42% and produce a constant level of product. The estimated average environmental damage value was 5.53 million Rials per hectare. In other words, due to the environmentally inefficient practice of sugar beet farmers, damages equal to 5.53 million Rials are imposed on the society through environmental polluting.

Suggestions:

 It is recommended to adopt appropriate policies that can limit the use of fertilizers and chemical pesticides in the production of sugar beet, which will reduce production costs and farmers will benefit from this way.