Economics of Date Production in Salah al-Din Governorate - Balad District: An Applied Model

Abstract

The research presented is an applied economic analysis examining the cost analysis involved with date farm production in the Balad District of Salah al-Din Governorate, Iraq by estimating costs and determining an optimal scale of production in the region. In June 2023 a survey was conducted using a convenience sample of 130 date farms representing approximately 50% of the total number of date farms in the Balad District. The short-run cost functions, long-run cost functions, and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) were used to estimate farm efficiency in the Balad District, Iraq. Through analysis, it is estimated that an average farm can produce date production of 18.2 tons per farm with 7.5 dunams of cultivated area. Many date farms in the Balad District currently operate below this optimal level of production, resulting in inefficient operations and higher cost than necessary. Only 14% of the farms in this region of Iraq are estimated to have achieved full economies of scale for date production. The DEA estimates also suggested that a farm’s level of education and adoption of modern technologies contribute to greater levels of farm efficiency. The results of the study will lead to recommendations to provide assistance to date farmers in Balad District, Iraq, by increasing the size (scale) of small farms, adjusting the size of an over size farm, enhancing agricultural extension services, encouraging the use of smart farming, and improving marketing systems to improve productivity and profitability of the date farming industry in Iraq.