Analysis of technical efficiency and technical progress contribution of alfalfa production

Alfalfa is the king of the forage whose comprehensive nutritional value is significantly higher than that of food crops like corn and wheat. At present there is a huge gap between supplies and demands of alfalfa although it has vital significance for the development of dairy industry in our country. The present paper analysed the inputs and outputs of alfalfa industry and estimated the technical efficiency of alfalfa production in eight major producing provinces from 2011 to 2013 using the parametric estimation method, then estimated the rate of technical progress and its contribution rate. The results showed that the technical efficiency was high and increased year by year with the value of 89.3% in 2013 and the contribution rate of technical progress was 49.4% which indicated that the development of China’s alfalfa industry is in a state between “extensive” and “intensive” growth. In conclusion, the suggestions about raising the seed cost, labor and machinery and improving the scale of alfalfa production were put forward.