Impact of agriculture extension services on technical efficiency of rural paddy farmers in southwest Bangladesh

Agricultural Extension Services (AES) aim to improve farming knowledge that helps in increasing crop production and the technical efficiency of paddy farmers in Bangladesh. The purposes of this study are to measure the impact of an AES, namely, the Blue Gold programme, on the technical efficiency and production level of the Boro paddy farmers in southwest rural Bangladesh. A total of 122 paddy farmers were interviewed, employing a random sampling method. To analyse the technical efficiency of the farmers, the Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier model was employed. The findings show that the mean technical efficiency levels of the participants and non-participants are 95% and 82%, producing 162.74 and 136.48 maunds per hectare, respectively. The findings are indispensable for devising strategies for environment-friendly agricultural activities and rural economic development in Bangladesh.