Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Experts from the Institute for Forecasting and Macroeconomic Research (IMTI) assessed the technical efficiency of the agricultural sector in the regions of Uzbekistan.

The evaluation used the Färe-Primont index, developed on the basis of the DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) model toolkit.

The economy of Uzbekistan is inextricably linked with agriculture, in terms of the share in GDP of which the country ranks 18th in the world.

The TOP-20 includes 17 countries of the African continent, as well as Afghanistan and Uzbekistan - the countries of the Asian continent. The top three world leaders of these countries include Nigeria - in the production of cashew nuts, okra, peanuts and sweet potatoes, Tanzania - in the production of sesame and sweet potatoes. In the world ranking for the production of apricots, Uzbekistan occupies the following positions after Turkey, cherries - after Turkey, the USA and Chile, quince - after Turkey and China, silk - after China, India, Vietnam and Thailand, carrots and turnips - after China.

The study assessed the technical efficiency of growing cattle and grain crops on the territory of Uzbekistan in 2017-2019. As factors of production selected indicators of land area under crops, the availability of agricultural machinery in the regions, the population employed in this area and the volume of organic fertilizers used.

The results show that in terms of overall productivity (TFP), the leading regions in 2017 were Jizzakh, Andijan and Bukhara, in 2018 - Andijan, Navoi and Bukhara, in 2019 - Kashkadarya, Bukhara and Andijan regions.

Regarding the Republic of Karakalpakstan, in the 2017 ranking, it took 5th place after Kashkadarya region, and by 2019 it fell by 2 positions (7th place). Despite a slight decrease in the position in the ranking, productivity in the Republic of Karakalpakstan increased by 15.2% over this period. This indicates that productivity growth was even higher in some regions. In particular, in Samarkand region, which previously ranked 8th in the ranking, productivity increased by 25.7%, outpacing the performance of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, which led to an improvement in positions (6th place). During the analyzed period, the slowest growth (6.1%) was observed in Surkhandarya region.

In addition, the results showed that some regions with the highest production volume may be technically inefficient. For example, if in Bukhara, Namangan, Syrdarya and Khorezm regions there is a balance between indicators of economic and technical efficiency, then in other regions there are certain differences. This means an insufficiently rational use of factors of production in these regions.

In addition, based on the results obtained on the basis of the DEA toolkit for 2019, as well as taking into account the agro-climatic conditions of the regions,

IPMI experts identified exemplary territories. In particular, it is recommended to study the experience of the Fergana region for the development of Namangan, Bukhara - for the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Jizzakh - for Syrdarya, Khorezm - for Surkhandarya, Navoi - for Samarkand regions.