International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
HD Patel, Dr. JV Varasani and Raj Patel

abstract
Paddy is the second most produced crop worldwide after maize and is a staple food for more than half of the world's population, especially in Asia and Africa. After China, India is the world's second-largest producer of paddy, with 137.83 million metric tons. Gujarat is having 15^th place in paddy production in India during the year 2023-24. In present study, a total of 240 paddy farmers were selected using multistage random sampling from two districts of South Gujarat viz., Valsad and Tapi. The technical efficiency was calculated by using stochastic frontier production function and the determinants was analyzed by Tobit model. The findings revealed that the coefficients of seed (0.803), human labour (0.322) were found positive and significant while machine cost (-0.069) was found negative and significant factor in the overall study area. The technical efficiency for overall South Gujarat ranged between 70.02 and 98.64 per cent with the mean of 88.79 per cent, indicating that the paddy yield can be increased by 11.21 per cent in the study area with the available resources without using any additional resources. The mean technical efficiency for Valsad and Tapi district were 88.81 and 88.23 per cent, respectively. The results of the determinants of paddy production indicated that age of the farmer (0.012), education level of the farmer (0.143), number of working members in the family (0.033) and proximity to market yard (0.010) were found to be positive and significant impact in the overall study area.