Increasing the productivity of red pepper is important to meet the need of ever increasing population. However, farmers faced the problem of productivity due to the lack of knowledge on how to maximize level of output at a given level of inputs. The objective of this study was to assess the technical efficiency of red pepper production in Dalocha district of southern Ethiopia. Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier model was used to estimate the technical efficiency and its determinants in red pepper production. Maximum likelihood estimation results showed that increasing input variables (oxen power, seed, labor and fertilizer) would increase yield of red pepper. The discrepancy ratio,γ, which measures the relative deviation of output from the frontier level due to inefficiency was about 85 percent indicating that about 85% of variation in red pepper yield among the farmers was attributed to technical inefficiency effects. The mean technical efficiency of farmers was about 80%. The implication is that, there is an opportunity to improve technical efficiency among farmers on average by 20% through efficient use of inputs. Thus, it is possible to improve technical efficiency through utilizing available inputs wisely.

To overcome the problem of land degradation expanding the elephant grass to the degraded land for soil and water conservation in sustainable land management practice were better option for farmer. Objectives are assesses the effect of integrated soil and water conservation on selected soil physicochemical property and factors determining its adoption in, Ethiopia. Materials and Methods of data were collected through soil sampling, field observation and household interviews. SPSS software version 21, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistical. Survey data was analysis for continuous variables by using independent sample t-test and for dummy variable chi-square and logistic regression to determine the predictive variable. Results, Based on the finding sand, silt and clay contents were varied significantly (P < 0.05) between the land management practices. There was significantly higher mean bulk density value for the soil bund compared to the values for the rest of the land management practices. When comparing the soil bund with elephant grass to the soil bund without elephant grass, the mean value of hydrogen power was much higher. The trend was similar for total nitrogen, available phosphorus. Furthermore, sex, total tropical livestock unit, and information about agriculture were significantly influenced adoption of soil and water conservation technology (elephant grass). Main finding the soils under the bund with elephant grass revealed that overall change towards the direction of increasing their fertility status compared to soil bund alone. Thus, stabilization of bunds with elephant grass significantly benefit to the soil for its fertility improvement.

Increasing the productivity of red pepper is important to meet the need of ever increasing population. However, farmers faced the problem of productivity due to the lack of knowledge on how to maximize level of output at a given level of inputs. The objective of this study was to assess the technical efficiency of red pepper production in Dalocha district of southern Ethiopia. Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier model was used to estimate the technical efficiency and its determinants in red pepper production. Maximum likelihood estimation results showed that increasing input variables (oxen power, seed, labor and fertilizer) would increase yield of red pepper. The discrepancy ratio,γ, which measures the relative deviation of output from the frontier level due to inefficiency was about 85 percent indicating that about 85% of variation in red pepper yield among the farmers was attributed to technical inefficiency effects. The mean technical efficiency of farmers was about 80%. The implication is that, there is an opportunity to improve technical efficiency among farmers on average by 20% through efficient use of inputs. Thus, it is possible to improve technical efficiency through utilizing available inputs wisely.

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