The Technical Efficiency of Farms, Its Decomposition into Input Components, and Their Socioeconomic Characteristics at Alahsa Oasis in Saudi Arabia

The current study aims to assess the technical efficiency of farms in the Alahsa region of Saudi Arabia and decompose them into input components. It contrasts the socioeconomic traits of farmers in an attempt to provide an explanation for their efficiency levels. The ID-DEA model was run on a sample of 25 farms. The findings show that farms are categorized into three groups according to technical efficiency scores. With all inputs being efficient (scores = 1), 48% of farms fall into the first efficiency category. Twenty percent of farms fall into the second category of moderately efficient farms (0.5–0.79), meaning that they employ pesticides, irrigation, and production processes at moderately efficient levels (0.89, 0.88, and 085, respectively). The third category consists of inefficient farms (< 0.5), of which only 32% have a moderate efficiency level of their handwork (0.53). Farmers manage their resources differently based on their level of knowledge and understanding of resource utilization, according to the input decomposition. The efficient group seemed to be socioeconomically the youngest, most educated, having the largest percentage of family members, having less experience, and having fewer family members.