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Abstract

Polyculture is commonly practiced in pond aquaculture where several fish species are reared together, creating a multioutput production structure. This study examines the technical (TE), allocative (AE) and economic efficiency (EE) of the most widely practiced fish-producing polyculture system in the coastal area of Yancheng city, China, which deals mostly with the production of crucian carp alongside silver carp and bighead carp. Data envelopment analysis is used to measure the efficiencies, while Tobit regression is applied to identify the factors affecting efficiencies. The estimated TE, AE and EEs are 0.92, 0.96, and 0.88 respectively. Crucian carp polyculture is characterized by moderate technical inefficiencies, necessitating the development and dissemination of new technology to increase the productivity of these farmers. On average, small ponds were found to be more technically efficient while large ponds were found to have higher allocative and scale efficiencies. Additionally, Tobit regression revealed a positive effect between farm size and efficiencies. These findings provide some support for the current standardized pond program in China. The use of hired labor decreased technical efficiencies of fish farmers. Fingerling size had a significant positive effect on efficiencies. In order to manage constantly expanding crucian carp polyculture, farmers should be provided with information on sizable fingerlings, economic pond sizes, and employee supervision, among other factors.

Evaluation of Technical Efficiency in Exotic Carp Polyculture in Northern India: Conventional DEA vs. Bootstrapping Methods

“…Analyses suggest that small-scale farms (<1 ha) as selected in this study are easily managed, require less investment, and fewer risk factors are involved. Sharma et al [40] and Yin et al [41] obtained similar results where the technical efficiency of the farms decreases as the size increases. Note: Single (*) and double (**), denotes, respectively, significance at the 10%, and 5% levels, TE denotes technical efficiency, AE denotes allocative efficiency, and CE denotes cost efficiency.…”

Farm size, productivity and efficiency nexus: The case of pangas fish farming in Bangladesh

“…That means efficiency increases with the increases of farm size. This circumstance can be explained by the fact that the small farm may not be economically capable as the larger ones (Fernandez and Nuthall, 2012;Bhuyan et al, 2013;Yin et al, 2014;Bhatt and Bhat, 2014). Moreover, large farms generally have higher labor productivity through the use of new technology and mechanization (Mishra, 2014).…”

Scale Efficiency in Tambaqui Farming in Earth Ponds in the Metropolitan Region of Manaus-Am

“…One of the ways to reduce costs is to increase the productive scale aiming to optimize the use of production factors so that costs are diluted; in this sense, the largest companies present greater scale efficiencies (Gomes et al, 2005). However, in aquaculture, the relationship between efficiency and size of the property is extremely complex and it does not always follow the logic that larger units are more efficient (Yin et al, 2014).…”