SEMINAR: Profit efficiency and rice variety choice among rice farmers in Vietnam

Although Vietnam is among the world’s leading rice producers, rice farm incomes remain low. This is partly explained by the inefficient use or allocation of resources. This study aims to investigate the determinants of these inefficiencies and identify solutions that have the potential to enhance incomes. This project is conducted in the Mekong River Delta, the country’s largest rice intensification area, where more than 50% of Vietnam’s planted rice area (4.25 million ha) is cultivated, producing more than 25 million tonnes of paddy and contributing about 90% of the rice export volume annually (6 million tonnes) (GSO 2015). This study focuses on: 1) evaluating profit efficiency and analysing the factors affecting inefficiency among rice farmers employing data envelopment analysis using a directional distance function approach; 2) evaluating the impact of high-quality rice varieties on farm productivity and profit efficiency by using a combined approach between propensity score matching method and stochastic production frontier framework; and 3) investigating the factors affecting rice farmer adoption decisions in relation to high-quality rice varieties using duration analysis approach. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on profit efficiency and rice variety choice among rice farmers in Vietnam. The expected findings could provide useful information to assist policymakers in designing better policies to enhance rice farmer incomes and the sustainable development of Vietnamese rice subsector. Furthermore, it has the potential to make a significant contribution to the literature on efficiency and adoption studies in agriculture.