Productivity and Efficiency of Meadow Mushroom Cultivation in Selected Provinces of the Country: Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

The main purpose of this article is to evaluate the productivity and efficiency in meadow mushroom cultivation industry. To achieve this goal, by using the growth of total factors productivity in meadow mushroom farms in the six selected (Fars, Qazvin, Tehran, Alborz, Khorasan Razavi and Esfahan) provinces this has been calculated using the Malmquist index and data envelopment analysis (DEA) method for the period 2008-2018. By dividing the index into two effects of change in technology and change in technical efficiency, this study evaluates the total productivity of production factors. Moreover, this study attempts to evaluate the progress and recession rates of productivity. The results indicated that Isfahan province has the highest productivity of 15.8% Per year (positive growth) and Alborz province was facing a decrease in productivity of 1.6% per year (negative growth). On the other hand, the ratio of technological changes to productivity was more than the ratio of efficiency to productivity. So, to increase meadow mushroom productivity, it is necessary to improve technical efficiency and scale efficiency. In order to achieve these important goals, the present study provides some executive and research suggestions.