Technical efficiency of small cattle farmers located in the central south region of Chile

Productive management of peasant family agriculture (PFC) is relevant because it contributes with about 25% of agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) of Chile, generating more than 600,000 jobs and accounts for 42% of the national cattle stocks. The proposal of this study was to estimate the technical efficiency (TE) of livestock production in PFC and identify factors that influence their level of production efficiency. Data were obtained from a survey carried out by the Institute of Agricultural Development (INDAP) to 83 small cattle farmers at Nuble in central-southern Chile. Stochastic frontier analysis was performed to determine the efficiency of the productive system. Results show that the significant factors affecting productive efficiency are: the size of the herd, the farm workforce, animal feeds and other inputs required in livestock production. The value of TE was proved to be greater for farmers from of San Carlos (83.3%) than for these from Bulnes (76.1%), values that are consistent with a greater livestock development in that Municipality. Furthermore, factors affecting level the efficiency level are related to the level of education of the farmer, irrigated area of farm, the area used for livestock on the farm and the level of management of livestock enterprise. These results allow to infer that an increase in the values of these variables would result in an increase in the TE of the farmer