Evaluating Input-Oriented Cost and Environmental Efficiency in Leishter Plain Wheat Fields:Application of Material balance Principle and Data Envelopment Analysis

Today, in order to provide food security and respond to the increasing demand due to population growth, most countries, including Iran, have paid special attention to wheat production. The adoption of incentive policies by governments to increase the production of this product has led to the widespread use of various production inputs, including chemical fertilizers, which have the possibility of soil and water pollution. The increase of these pollutions has caused a change of attitude in the field of food production. One of the most important of these attitudes is the sustainable production of sufficient food along with attention to social, economic and environmental dimensions. Therefore, in order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to optimize and increase the environmental efficiency and cost in the consumption of chemical fertilizer inputs. For this purpose, this study has investigated the cost and environmental efficiency of wheat farmers in Gachsaran using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. The required data were obtained using simple random sampling method and completing the questionnaire from the farmers of Lishter Plain in Gachsaran in 2018. The results showed that the average cost efficiency under the assumption of constant return to scale and variable return to scale is 0.536 and 0.662, respectively, and the average environmental efficiency is 0.569 and 0.691, respectively. Therefore, the improvement in technical efficiency can significantly reduce production costs and environmental inefficiencies for farmers. Therefore, it is recommended that the government, in addition to training farmers in the optimal use of chemical inputs, by applying support policies, encourages wheat farmers towards organic cultivation and production so that while providing their income, a healthier product reaches the hands of consumers and improves their environmental performance.