Potato mechanized production efficiency in China based on DEA-malmquist index method

Potato is the fourth main grain after rice, wheat and maize in China. The thriving development of potato industry has an important role in ensuring food security and increasing farmers’ income. Firstly, the data envelopment analysis method (DEA) was used to analyze the production efficiency and results based on the panel data of three major potato producing areas in China (Northwest, Northeast and North China, Southwest) by providing the change tendency and characteristics of comprehensive technical efficiency (CTE), pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE) in each province (region) during 2014-2016. Then the basic situation of the development of technical efficiency change index (EC) and technological progress rate change index (TC) was obtained through the calculation and decomposition of the Malmquist index of total factor productivity, the results indicated that:1) the overall technical efficiency and pure technical efficiency of the research area showed a declining tendency year by year. However, the scale efficiency was increasing. The average of the three major producing areas didn’t reach the effective DEA level and the improvement of technical efficiency mainly depended on the improvement of production methods and the rational allocation of input factors. 2) There were great differences in total factor productivity among the three major producing regions, which were less than one-third of a total factor productivity rate of 1, it was found that the low technological progress rate was the leading factor affecting the low efficiency of potato production in these provinces. 3) There were studies where a coexistence loss of technological progress and technology efficiency in potato production technology popularization and the lack of effective investment in the advanced production technology or technology of regional application, which would lead to the reduction of total factor productivity of potato. Therefore, the development of potato mechanization production efficiency in China should focus on the choice of appropriate planting scale, while adopting the suitable mode of production mechanization model, improving the production efficiency of potato technology progress, reducing the differences among provinces (regions) of the overall potato production efficiency according to the actual conditions of local potato production. © 2019, Asian Association for Agricultural Engineering. All rights reserved.