The efficiency analysis of organic and conventional olive farms: Case of Turkey

This paper investigates technical and economically efficiency of 62 organic and 62 conventional olive producing farms in Turkey. According to the study results; by using the CRS model which is input and output-oriented, the average technical efficiency of organic olive farms is 67.68%, the average technical efficiency of conventional olive farms is 47.93%. The technical efficiency of the output-oriented VRS model is 74.78%, and the technical efficiency of the input-oriented VRS model is 93.46%. Also, considering the same model, the average efficiency of the conventional olive farms in the input and output are 59.58% and 94.97%, respectively. Therefore, according to the Data Envelopment Analysis, the technical efficiency in conventional olive farms is less than in the organic ones. When the farms have been evaluated one by one in the light of the total potential improvement values, inputs and outputs, improvement is needed in all values.