Analysis of tractor efficiency in agricultural production: A case study in Trakya region

In this study, data envelopment analysis (DEA) and fuzzy data envelopment analysis (FDEA) is used to determine tractor use efficiency of sunflower and wheat farms in Thrace region. In addition, the capital structures of the farms, the economic and financial profitability rates, gross profit analysis for sunflower and wheat production and factor analysis to determine the factors affecting tractor purchasing preferences is included in the study. The factors affecting efficiency scores of farms are determined using Tobit model. A survey was conducted face to face with 113 producers. The average land size is 223.82 da and the average active capital is 14,733.61 TL/da. Average gross production value is 618.68 TL/da, gross product is 640.93 TL/da, gross profit is 377.98 TL/da, pure product is 237.06 TL/da, agricultural income is 235.60 TL/da and equity income is 175,47 TL/da. The gross profit in wheat and sunflower production are 319.24 TL/da and 368.75 TL/da respectively. The economic profitability ratio of the farms is 1.61, the financial profitability ratio is 1.22, the profitability factor is 36.99 and the capital turnover ratio is 4.20. According to DEA results, the average tractor use efficiency of the farms is 0.866. In order to be efficient, farms should reduce their input on tractor use by an average of 19.24%. According to FDEA scores, the average tractor use efficiency score of the farms is calculated as 0.707 and the farms should reduce their inputs by 29.3% to be efficient in tractor use. According to the Tobit model results, the tractor specification factor has negative; the economic and social impact factors and the education level, age, farm size and family labor have positive effects on efficiency. It is determined that 6.19% of the farms are efficient. In addition, farms should reduce total horsepower by 18.19%, tractor capital by 21.39% and tractor operating time by 22.46% to be efficient. Increasing the efficiency of resource use in farms, depends on to raise the consciousness level of farmers about input use. In this way, farmer income can be increased by preventing excessive use of inputs. In this context, issues regarding optimum resource utilization should be emphasized in farmer training within the scope of agricultural extension activities.