Technological Changes, Scale Effects and Total Factor Productivity Growth of Cotton in Iran

Cotton is one of the main agricultural products that its harvest area and production in Iran shows decreasing rate in recent years. So be aware of productivity change''s trend and its elements changes، can be influential in increasing the production of cotton and improving the production factors productivity. So the present study investigated the changes in factors productivity using both parametric and non-parametric approach and cotton production and cost information during 1987-2008. The annual growth of total productivity calculated 1. 7 percent for the period using Tornqvist-Theil index. Also estimating results of the cost model، showed that total factor productivity in recent years has grown average annual 1. 53 percent that this growth have been mainly due to technological change. Thus for productivity increasing، development of new technologies and techniques in cotton production is recommended.