Is Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) farming in India is technically efficient? — A comprehensive study

Technical efficiency (TE) measures the ability of the farmer to obtain maximum outputs from a given combination of inputs. Stochastic frontier production function analysis (SFA) was employed to assess the technical efficiencies of Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei) farming in India. The findings of this comprehensive study shown that the mean technical efficiency of P. vannamei farms in the country was 0.9013, indicating that the farms achieved 90% of the maximum possible output from a given set of inputs. Maximum likelihood estimates of production function indicated that shrimp stocking density, feed quantity and its management, access to technical consultancy, adoption of zero water exchange, cropping intensity and duration of the culture were the major determinants of TE. The ANOVA and student ‘t’ analyses have shown significant differences in the TE of P. vannamei farming across salinity of culture systems (p