STOCHASTIC FRONTIER ANALYSIS OF CUCUMBER PRODUCTION UNDER DIFFERENT CULTIVATION SYSTEMS IN ISMAILIA GOVERNORATE, EGYPT تحليل الحدود العشوائية لإنتاج الخيار تحت نظم زراعية مختلفة بمحافظة الإسماعيلية، مصر

The main purpose of the present studyis to examine the technical efficiency of cucumber production in Ismailia governorate under different cultivation systems including open system, plastic tunnels, and greenhouses system. Stochastic frontier analysis of production has been adopted to achieve this objective by using the data obtained from field survey conducted in year 2012. The production frontiers involve the inputs of cultivated area, quantities of seeds, volume of farmyard manure, chemical fertilizers, and labor. Most estimates have expected signs. Bymeasuring the importance of inputs in the production function, the cultivated area and farmyard manure open cultivation system, cultivated area and labor in low plastic tunnels, and farmyard manure in greenhouse systemare the most important inputs according to their statistical significant and higher partial elasticities. The results of the efficiency analysis showed remarkable differences in efficiency across the farms within each cultivation system and among the cultivation systems. Therefore, there are potentialities for improving cucumber farm productivity. In the inefficiency model, the results reveal that age of the farmers has negative impact on the production efficiency, while the educational level and accessing to the agricultural extension services, and agricultural education have favorable  impact on the efficiency.