Resource use efficiency in rice based farming systems :

Abstract

Rice is one of the most important cereal crop grown in Uganda particularly in the eastern region. This crop is produced throughout the country under diverse environments that include both uplands and wetland areas. Therefore, the study focuses on the efficiency of rice growing with concerns on wetlands conservation, ensuring of food security in addition to identifying the factors that determine efficiency of rice production in Namasagali sub-county, Primary data was collected from three parishes in this sub-county; yield surveys were also collected from rice farmers as well as from experiments ran. Secondary data was collected from internet and research centers. Cost benefit analyses were made to estimate the potential of upland rice conserving wetlands. For food security a comparison was made between upland rice yields and the quantity of maize consumed in a year depending on the findings of Isabirye (2005). The study also employed a logistic regression to find the factors determining the technical efficiency of rice growing and the Cobb-Douglas production function model was used to determine the level of technical efficiency of the rice farmers in Namasagali sub-county and it was revealed that out of the factors assessed, 7 of them were found to crucial as regards technical efficiency of rice production and these include; education level, farmers' experience, motive of the farmer, family size, labour, use of ox-plough, land size devoted to rice cultivation were found to be significant at 5% level of significance. However, factors like rice type, fertilizers application, gender, land ownership were discovered to be insignificant in determining technical efficiency in the area. In addition, it was found that land size devoted to rice cultivation was the most significant factor determining technical efficiency of rice cultivation in the area. The Cobb-Douglas results exhibit that the farmers in Namasagali sub-county are generally technically inefficient due to decreasing returns to scale of production, implying that key factors of production are over utilized. It is therefore recommended that farmers should shift to upland rice cultivation especially NERICA 4 the high yielding one so as to ensure wetlands conservation and food security, in addition to sensitization of farmers about the wetlands values. In addition, farmers were called upon to adopt modern farming practices, in addition to intensification of agricultural extension services so as improve on technical efficiency.