An analysis of input use efficiency in tobacco production with respect to sustainability:: The case study of Turkey

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of input use in tobacco production in Turkey with respect to sustainability. In the construction of cross sectional data, the provinces in the Aegean, Northwestern, Eastern-Southeastern Anatolian and Black Sea regions were considered. Face to face interviews were carried Out with 300 farmers from the provinces which together produce at least 75% of regional tobacco Output. Efficiency measures of tobacco farms in each region were calculated by Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Efficiency measures obtained from constant return to scale DEA were then decomposed into pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency. Total tobacco production (in kg) was used as the Output indicator, and land (ha), labor (hours), tractor use (hours), nitrogen (kg), phosphorus (kg) and pesticide (kg) were considered as the main inputs. Econometric models were developed in order to determine the factors that affect the efficiency of regional tobacco production. The average technical efficiency score for all regions was found to be 0.456, implying that the same level of production per plots can be obtained even if the inputs used for tobacco producttion are decreased by 54.4%. Although none of the regions is completely efficient in tobacco production. the Eastern-Southeastern Region, which obtained the highest pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency scores, turned out to be relatively more successful in input use. Considering all regions together, the inefficiency did not seem to result from non-optimal production, but instead from the failure to produce a given level of output with the minimum amount Of inputs possible. The results also indicated a strong positive relationship between the efficiency of input use and the sustainability of agriculture.