Data envelopment analysis is used to calculate technical, allocative, economic, and scale efficiencies for fields enrolled in the University of Arkansas Rice Research Verification Program. The results reveal most fields have high technical and scale efficiencies, implying inputs are used in minimum levels necessary to achieve given output levels and fields are close to optimal in size. However, most fields exhibit allocative and economic inefficiencies and do not use inputs in the right combinations necessary to achieve cost minimization. Tobit analysis indicated allocative and economic efficiencies could be improved with better variety selection and better irrigation management.

This paper assessed the economic benefits of managing fruit flies infecting sweet gourd using pheromones. In this study, a pheromone called Cuelure imported by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) was used for suppressing fruit fly infesting sweet gourd. Analysis of the potential benefits of farmers adopting the Cuelure technology projects that benefits over 15 years range from 187 million Taka or $2.7 million to 428 million Taka or $6.3 million, depending on assumptions. The projected rate of return on the BARI investment in pheromone research ranges from to 140 to 165 percent. The size of these returns implies that pheromone research at BARI has a high economic return and that Bangladesh benefits significantly as Cuelure becomes more widely available to farmers.

Arkansas is the top domestic rice producer, representing nearly half of total US rice production. Sediment is one ofthe major pollutants in rice-producing areas of Arkansas. In order to mitigate this problem, no-till management is often recommended. No-till is not well understood by farmers who believe that no-till is less profitable due to lower yields offsetting cost savings. This stvidy evaluates the profitability and net return variability of no-till in the typical rice {Oryza sativa L.)-soybean (Glycine max L.) rotation used in Arkansas rice production. Crop yields, crop prices, and prices for key production inputs (fiiel and fertilizer) are simulated for the rotation, and net return distributions for rice, soybean, and the two-year rotation are evaluated for no-till and conventional till using stochastic efficiency with respect to a function (SERF) analysis. The results indicate that both risk neutral and risk-averse rice producers would prefer no-till over conventional till management in the two-year rice-soybean rotation and that no-till soybeans contribute greatly to the overall profitability ofthe rotation.

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