Technical efficiency in different production systems with ruminants: a systematic review and meta-analysis approach

This paper provides the results of a systematic research and a meta-analysis performed with studies published around the world about technical efficiency in production systems (PS) with ruminants, covering the period of years 1993–2015 and all the geographical areas in the world. From the total of studies collected, 58 were extracted. The overall estimate found was 81.85 %, lying into a 95 % confidence interval defined by the limits 79.23 and 84.48 %. The meta-regression analysis conducted supports as heterogeneity factors in the efficiency studies the following variables: sample size, approach, methodology, orientation, continent, and PS. Dairy cattle and beef cattle showed the highest levels of efficiency. The results obtained indicate that this economic sector could improve its efficiency reducing the consumption of resources around 15 % in overexploited systems, or by increasing the production about 23.6 % in PS with limited resources.