International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (Jul 2014)
FACTORS AFFECTING PROFITABILITY OF SMALL SCALE FARMING IN SOUTHERN TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Abstract
This study examined several possible factors determining the profitability of small scale crop farmers in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. Industrial/urban influence on profit efficiency was tested by the creation of a special variable (IFOUR). This variable along with farming and socio-economic variables were incorporated into a translog augmented stochastic profit frontier. The significance of coefficients was tested as well as the calculation of the elasticity of profit with respect to the wage rate. The study found a significant negative impact of wage rates on profitability. Also the age of the farmer negatively affected profitability, while the number of years farming had a positive effect. This latter variable also significantly influenced both the one-sided error and idiosyncratic error terms. However IFOUR measuring industrial/urban influence did not significantly affect the profitability. The farmers had a mean profit efficiency of 48.4%, which was low in international comparisons.
