The present study aimed to investigate the technical efficiency of agricultural growers in Mid-Himalayan areas of Himachal Pradesh using Cobb-Douglas Stochastic Frontier model. A sample of 140 adopters (involved with watershed development activities) and 140 non-adopters (outside the watershed activities) was selected using multistage random sampling technique. The study reveals that a one per cent increase in the use of quantity of each input resources such as seed, fertilizer, plant protection, farm yard manure and irrigation, on an average increased the technical efficiency by 0.414, 0.301, 0.025, 0.012, 0.194 and 0.019 per cent respectively on adopter farms, whereas in case of non-adopter farms, a one per cent increase in the use of quantity of each input resources such as seed, fertilizer, farm yard manure, labor and irrigation, on an average increased the technical efficiency by 0.263, 0.309, 0.194, 0.317, and 0.021 per cent. The mean technical efficiencies of the adopters and non-respondents respondents were found 83 and 79 per cent. Thus, there is a potential for adopters and non-adopters respondents to increase their efficiency by 17 and 21 per cent, if they use their existing farm resources efficiently. We concluded that inadequate training, exposure, knowledge gap and extension service to farmers in study area were the reasons that farmers were using their resources inefficiently.
Agricultural growers, Resources, Stochastic frontier model, Technical efficiency
