Impact of Improved Seed Varieties Adoption on Technical Efficiency of Wheat Farmers in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Despite the designed policy strategies for boosting agricultural productivity, the production and productivity was remained very low in Ethiopia. A key theme and policy priority for increasing farm productivity is addressing smallholder farmers' limited and variable crop yields in line with their productive capacity. Therefore, this study was developed to identify the technical efficiency level, assessing factors affecting the adoption of improved wheat varieties and its impact on the technical efficiency of wheat farmers in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia. The study used cross-sectional household-level data collected in 2021/2022 from 295(156 adopters and 139 non-adopters) randomly selected sample households. Both descriptive and econometric methods were used to address the research objectives. The findings from SPFA indicated that, the technical efficiency level of sample households was 68.09%. Among the total sample households, those who adopted improved wheat varieties gained TE level of 74.34% and non-adopters with 61.07%. The probit model output showed that adoption of improved wheat varieties among households was positively influenced by the education level of the household head, total land size cultivated, total livestock owned, and perception of soil fertility status whereas the age of household head and FTC distance influenced adoption negatively. Moreover, the results from the endogenous treatment model indicated that the adoption of IWVs generated a significant positive (8.304%) impact on sample wheat producer households TEs. The technical efficiency of non-adopters would increase by 19.74% if they adopt improved varieties. This indicates that IWVs adoption significantly contribute to the production improvement and technical efficiency of smallholder farmers’. Hence, to fully unlock the potential of improved varieties (IWVS) among smallholder wheat producers, it is advisable for respective stakeholders to collaborate and promote a large scale adoption of improved wheat varieties. By doing so, they can significantly witness the wheat productivity by improving the efficiency of smallholder farmers in the study area.