Abstract
Greening modern rice farming while improving productivity and reducing chemical use is a desirable goal for sustainable agriculture. This paper analyzes the impact of vermicomposting on productivity and efficiency of modern rice farming using a random sample of 340 farmers from the southwestern region of Bangladesh by applying a stochastic production frontier approach. Results reveal that productivity is significantly higher and the use of chemicals is significantly lower for vermicompost users as expected. However, profitability gain is not significantly different mainly due to the high cost of vermicompost. Use of vermicompost significantly increases productivity along with other conventional inputs and its users are relatively more technically efficient. Policy implications include investments to raise farmers’ awareness of the benefits of vermicomposting and support entrepreneurs to expand commercial production of vermicompost, which will synergistically curb the use of chemicals in modern rice farming while improving productivity and efficiency.
DOI
10.3390/agriculture9110239
Publication Date
2019-11-10
Publication Title
Agriculture
Volume
9
Issue
11
Publisher
MDPI AG
ISSN
2077-0472
Embargo Period
2024-11-19
First Page
239
Last Page
239
Recommended Citation
Rahman, S., & Barmon, B. (2019) 'Greening Modern Rice Farming Using Vermicompost and Its Impact on Productivity and Efficiency: An Empirical Analysis from Bangladesh', Agriculture, 9(11), pp. 239-239. MDPI AG: Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture9110239
