Page 78 - ACADEMIC REDING

over the country by the nominal capacity of 11,300 tons per day (Annual Report

2016). Piranshahr has 23,000 ha of agricultural land and sugar beet is the main
crop in the area covering regularly 5,000 ha of total agricultural land in a year
(Annual Report 2015). Overall, there are about 4,000 sugar beet farmers in the

location of this case study and 30 farmers from both cooperative and non-

cooperative groups are chosen as the sample.
However, due to extensive sugar import during the last years, the
competitive power of the domestic sugar plants has strongly declined and lost

their market shares (Annual Report 2016). Low access to inputs at the right time

and compatible with the area, improper purchasing system, and late compensation
procedure are three main challenges and obstacles of the farmers.

Cooperation can be a good solution to aforementioned challenges, since
cooperatives may provide inputs and even extension services. The Cooperative of

Sugar Beet (CSB) farmers of Piranshahr was established in 2000. Now, CSB is the
main sugar beet cooperative in the area with initially 84 members, reaching over

2,200 members in 2015. In addition, there are other informal cooperatives, which
are mainly small-scale and family-based businesses.

Increasing efficiency is an important goal for policymakers in agricultural
and non-agricultural markets. The formula to find the efficiency is needed to be

addressed. In order to clarify the efficiency concept, it is useful to show the formal
definitions. Let Q denote output, X = {X1, ..., Xn} as vector of output, W = {W1,

..., Wn} as vector of input, and finally, p be the price of output (Sexton and Iskow
1993). Then, the collective efficiency formula with optimum solution (profit

maximizing) in cooperative farm is P–c(W2, …, Wn, Q) / Q = Σk MCk (X1k) with P
for price and C for cost.

The method of this study is formulated in two parts. First, the efficiency
scores from the interview of individual farmers in both cooperative and

noncooperative groups are calculated using super-efficiency DEA. Then, the
efficiency scores from cooperatives and non-cooperative farms are compared

using parametric and nonparametric paired tests.
Adapted from Zamani, Mojaverian, and Nader (2019)

1. The location of the test subject is in the West Azerbaijan. [T/F]

2. Sugar beet is the main crop of Piranshahr. [T/F]

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