Pauline Kamau|Geoffrey Kingori Gathungu|Rael Nkatha Mwirigi
Technical Efficiency of Irish Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Production in Molo Sub County, Kenya
Chuka University|Chuka University|Chuka University
study focused measuring farm level technical efficiency among smallholder irish potato farmers molo sub county determinants descriptive research design applied crosssectional data collected multistage sampling smallholder irish potato farmers located molo sub county april june 2019 stochastic frontier approach assuming cobbdouglas production function adopted analyze level technical efficiency explain variations technical efficiency across farmers estimation done applying maximum likelihood method mean technical efficiency 707 statistically significant variables respect farm inputs land 0262 seed 0629 fertilizer 0299 fungicide 0131 variables respectively however fertilizer variable negative effects irish potato production education 0061 gender 0262 access extension services 0078 farmer group 0217 variables significant influenced technical inefficiency negativelyincrease smallholder farmers literacy level accessibility extension services farmer groups may improve irish potato production technical efficiency however gender contribution towards irish potato production technical efficiency needs deeper understanding