Stochastic Frontier Analysis of Biological Agents (Microbial Inoculants) Input Usage in Apple Production

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the impact of the Microbial Inoculants (MI) Technology on apple yields and pesticide application using 2007 farm data. The results show that pesticide usage is not reduced by MI applications. However, there is a significant positive effect on the yields. Apple production efficiency is 37%.Microbial Inoculants, apple production, frontier analysis, damage control, Farm Management, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Risk and Uncertainty,