Thesis (M.Agric. (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo / Maize is the most important cereal crop grown in South Africa. This crop is produced throughout the country under diverse environments. The study only focuses on the technical efficiency because it is an important subject in developing agriculture where resources are limited, but high population growth is very common. Technical efficiency is the ability of a farmer to obtain output from a given set of physical inputs. Farmers have a tendency of under and/or overutilising the factors of production. The main aim of this study was to analyse the technical efficiency of small-scale maize producers in Ga-Mothiba rural community of Limpopo Province. The objective of the study was to determine the level of technical efficiency of smallscale maize producers and to identify the socio-economic characteristics that influence technical efficiency of small-scale maize producers in Ga-Mothiba. Purposive and Snowball sampling techniques were used to collect primary data from 120 small-scale farmers. Cobb-Douglas production function was used to determine the level of technical efficiency and Logistic regression model was used to analyse the variables that have influence the technical efficiency of maize production. Cobb-Douglas results reveal that small-scale farmers in Ga-Mothiba are experiencing technical inefficiency in maize production due to the decreasing return to scale, which means they are over-utilising factors of production. Logistic regression results indicate that out of 13 variables included in the analysis as socio-economic factors, 10 of them (level of education, income of the household on monthly basis, farmer`s farming experience, farm size, cost of tractor hours, fertiliser application, purchased hybrid maize seeds, membership to farmers` organisation, is maize profitable) were found to be significant and 3 (gender, age and hired labour) are non-significant. However, farm size was found to be the most significant variable at 99% level, showing a positive relationship to smallscale maize producer`s technical efficiency. Therefore, it is recommended that government should do the on-farm training since farmers mainly depend on trial and error and farmers` should have access to enough arable land and tractor services. However, farmers need to be trained on matters relating to fertiliser application, on the amount of seeds a farmer should apply per ha, and the importance of using hybrid seed.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2002-02Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:48:50Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 castro_mm_me_botfca.pdf: 150858 bytes, checksum: 3e6978ae5432a5cb4791f195f37f671c (MD5) / Este trabalho foi conduzido no Laboratório de Análise de sementes do Departamento de Produção Vegetal da Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas da Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Botucatu-SP, com o objetivo de avaliar o efeito de temperaturas no teste de submersão para avaliação do vigor de sementes de milho. Foram utilizados 9 lotes de sementes do híbrido CO-32, caracterizados pelas seguintes determinações: teor de água, germinação, primeira contagem de germinação, teste frio, envelhecimento acelerado, condutividade elétrica, matéria seca das plântulas, índice de velocidade de emergência e emergência de plântulas no campo. As sementes foram submetidas a tratamentos de submersão por períodos de 48 horas a 20oC, 25oC, 30oC e35oC. Após os tratamentos foi realizado o teste de germinação e as plântulas normais foram computadas após quatro dias. Constatou-se que o teste de submersão em água pode ser uma alternativa viável para avaliação do vigor em sementes de milho. As temperaturas de 20ºC e de 25oC mostraram-se mais promissoras para avaliação do vigor de sementes de milho. A tolerância das sementes a submersão em água reduziu com o aumento da temperatura de embebição. / This work was carried out at the Seed Analysis Laboratory at the plant Production Department of the São Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu – SP, aiming to evaluate the effects caused by flooding shortage and temperature on maize seed germination and physiological quality. The seeds were subjected to flooding for 48 hours at 20oC, 25oC, 30oC e 35oC for two days. After that were evaluated germination, first counting and drift water. Other tests for lot characterization were conducted before the flooding (germination, first counting, cold test, accelerated ageing, electrolytic leakage, dry matter of seedling, velocity of seedling emergence and field emergence. The flooding test could be a feasible alternative to evaluate the vigor on the corn seeds. The temperatures 20oC and 25oC were more adequate to evaluate the vigor on the corn seeds. The seeds tolerance to the test was reduced with the increase of soaking temperature.

Orientador: Cláudio Cavariani / Resumo: Este trabalho foi conduzido no Laboratório de Análise de sementes do Departamento de Produção Vegetal da Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas da Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Botucatu-SP, com o objetivo de avaliar o efeito de temperaturas no teste de submersão para avaliação do vigor de sementes de milho. Foram utilizados 9 lotes de sementes do híbrido CO-32, caracterizados pelas seguintes determinações: teor de água, germinação, primeira contagem de germinação, teste frio, envelhecimento acelerado, condutividade elétrica, matéria seca das plântulas, índice de velocidade de emergência e emergência de plântulas no campo. As sementes foram submetidas a tratamentos de submersão por períodos de 48 horas a 20oC, 25oC, 30oC e35oC. Após os tratamentos foi realizado o teste de germinação e as plântulas normais foram computadas após quatro dias. Constatou-se que o teste de submersão em água pode ser uma alternativa viável para avaliação do vigor em sementes de milho. As temperaturas de 20ºC e de 25oC mostraram-se mais promissoras para avaliação do vigor de sementes de milho. A tolerância das sementes a submersão em água reduziu com o aumento da temperatura de embebição. / Abstract: 2 SUMMARY This work was carried out at the Seed Analysis Laboratory at the plant Production Department of the São Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu - SP, aiming to evaluate the effects caused by flooding shortage and temperature on maize seed germination and physiological quality. The seeds were subjected to flooding for 48 hours at 20oC, 25oC, 30oC e 35oC for two days. After that were evaluated germination, first counting and drift water. Other tests for lot characterization were conducted before the flooding (germination, first counting, cold test, accelerated ageing, electrolytic leakage, dry matter of seedling, velocity of seedling emergence and field emergence. The flooding test could be a feasible alternative to evaluate the vigor on the corn seeds. The temperatures 20oC and 25oC were more adequate to evaluate the vigor on the corn seeds. The seeds tolerance to the test was reduced with the increase of soaking temperature. / Mestre