Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to determine the farm technical efficiency in pixie farming in Makueni County, Kenya
and the factors which influence the technical efficiency. The specific objectives of the study were: determination of technical
efficiency in pixie production, examination of how socio-economic characteristics affect the technical efficiency in pixie
production, and determination of how the adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies influence the technical efficiency in
pixie production. Primary data was collected where questionnaires and interview schedule were adopted to obtain information
from a sample of 311 pixie farmers through both purposive and simple random sampling technique. Non-experimental cross
sectional research design was adopted. Generalized linear regression model and stochastic frontier model were used. The study
results found that the mean technical efficiency was 75%. There only existed a 25% potential towards realization of optimum
output by the average farmer. Different socio-economic characteristics of the farmers were found to influence technical
efficiency among the pixie farmers. Maximum likelihood estimates of technical efficiency derived from the stochastic frontier
production function results indicated that use of fertilizer, manure and labour contributed to increased productivity. The adopters
of the different sustainable agricultural technologies had higher technical efficiencies than the non-adopters. The study
recommends young farmers be encouraged in the practice of pixie farming to help in realization of high pixie output. The
government should: Put in place measures to increase credit access to farmers, harmonize the repayment time of the loans and
design strategies in place for the pixie farmers to be educated on the need of adopting the sustainable agricultural technologies
and how to use them in order to reduce the big gap in their productivity levels.
Keywords: Adoption, Sustainable Agricultural Technologies, Technical Efficiency, Stochastic Frontier Model
