Abstract:
Despite the designed policy strategies for boosting agricultural productivity, the production
and productivity was remained very low in Ethiopia. A key theme and policy priority for
increasing farm productivity is addressing smallholder farmers' limited and variable crop
yields in line with their productive capacity. Therefore, this study was developed to identify
the technical efficiency level, assessing factors affecting the adoption of improved wheat
varieties and its impact on the technical efficiency of wheat farmers in Wolaita Zone,
Southern Ethiopia. The study used cross-sectional household-level data collected in
2021/2022 from 295(156 adopters and 139 non-adopters) randomly selected sample
households. Both descriptive and econometric methods were used to address the research
objectives. The findings from SPFA indicated that, the technical efficiency level of sample
households was 68.09%. Among the total sample households, those who adopted improved
wheat varieties gained TE level of 74.34% and non-adopters with 61.07%. The probit model
output showed that adoption of improved wheat varieties among households was positively
influenced by the education level of the household head, total land size cultivated, total
livestock owned, and perception of soil fertility status whereas the age of household head
and FTC distance influenced adoption negatively. Moreover, the results from the
endogenous treatment model indicated that the adoption of IWVs generated a significant
positive (8.304%) impact on sample wheat producer households TEs. The technical
efficiency of non-adopters would increase by 19.74% if they adopt improved varieties. This
indicates that IWVs adoption significantly contribute to the production improvement and
technical efficiency of smallholder farmers’. Hence, to fully unlock the potential of improved
varieties (IWVS) among smallholder wheat producers, it is advisable for respective
stakeholders to collaborate and promote a large scale adoption of improved wheat varieties.
By doing so, they can significantly witness the wheat productivity by improving the efficiency
of smallholder farmers in the study area.
