Effect of Tenure Systems on Agricultural Efficiency

Efficiency refers to the degree of success with which a definite device is used to achieve a definite purpose. It is a measure of the appropriateness of certain specific means to a given end. Where these devices and their purposes are simple and directly measurable, their efficiency can readily be expressed in terms of input-output ratios. For instance in agriculture, the relative physical efficiencies of two dairy cows can be measured by the amount of dairy products obtained per unit of feed. The process of putting feed through livestock is the means to the end of obtaining livestock products, and the livestock is the device whose physical or efficiency can be measured in terms of input-output ratios. The efficiency which is measured by physical input-output ratios I shall call technical Although efficiency does not tell us anything directly about the economic aspects of a process or enterprise, it is of central importance as a physical determinant of income and prices, and constitutes a basic concept in farm management, and the economy of the firm in general.' When the devices and their purposes become complex and heterogeneous in character, and their constituent elements are measured in economic value terms, the concept of efficiency tends to become involved. Its analytical usefulness requires a clearly defined frame of reference, a means-end schema, which determines beyond doubt the efficiency of what means is to be measured relative to which end pursued. The efficiency of combinations of factors of production employed in a firm and valued in monetary terms, relative to the monetary income produced by them shall be called entrepreneurial efficiency of farming, or farming efficiency. It refers to the combination of productive agents devised for the purpose of maximizing income over cost in an individual firm. Here, the problem of measurement, of accurate valuation of economic cost and returns, is much more intricate than in the case of Equally important is it to be aware of the complexity of the empirical end of any going concern. Maximizing money-income is only one of the