Background: Due to decreasing productivity trends, enhancing farm level technical efficiency (TE) in bread wheat production (BWP) is central to Ethiopia's food security strategy. This requires increased BW productivity through the use of improvements in seeds and TE. However, there is some empirical research that examines the institutional, socio-demographic, economic, and agronomic determinants of the TE of BWP simultaneously. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze determinants of TE and the implication of seed recycling on TE. Methods: The data was gathered from 450 randomly selected sample respondents via structured interviews, focus groups, and interviews with key informants. Data collection took place from December 15, 2021 to January 15, 2022. BW growing smallholder farmers were the major respondent of the study. Quantitative type of data including the number of inputs used, amount of wheat produced, and socio – demographic, economic, agronomic, and institutional variables were gathered and analyzed. The TE and factors affecting it were examined using a stochastic frontier production analysis with a trans-log functional specification. Results: The coefficients for labour (0.086), capital (0.22), fertilizer (0.042), weedicide (0.014), and machinery (0.005) were significantly positive at p<0.001 implying that an optimum increase to these inputs would increase BWP. The mean TE was found to be 79.99% indicating that farmers in the study operate 20.01% less than their potential. Nine of the hypothesized variables (69.2%) had significantly affected TE. Moreover, seed recycling reduced TE by 2.34%. Conclusion: Findings suggest that few farmers are able to grow BW either on the frontier or very close to it, which denotes high TE and poor access to improved seeds leading to seed recycling. Therefore, the farmer-to-farmer (F2F) extension method, which enables farmers to learn from their neighbors and create wider access to improved seeds through seed loans and vouchers are strongly suggested.

Previous studies investigated the effects of seed rates and seed recycling practices on the yield and yield-related variables. However, higher yield does not always guarantee cost-efficiency. This study aimed to investigate the yield effects of plot-level seed rate and the cost–benefit analysis of seed recycling practices. This study has introduced the dose–response model to the existing analytical methods used in analyzing the effect of different agrochemicals on crop yield. A multi-stage stratified sampling technique was used to select a total of 450 sample respondents. Data were gathered using a mix of data collection tools. Descriptive statistics along with the dose–response model were applied for data analysis. Farmers of the study were found to be dissimilar in terms of their seed rate application. A dose–response analysis indicated that the highest average wheat yield was associated with a seed rate of 50 kg ha⁻¹ above what is recommended. The yield effect of seed recycling was also assessed, and a one-time seed recycling has caused a yield decline of 665 kg ha⁻¹ compared to the non-recycled seeds. The cost reduced using recycled seed is by far lower than the economic gains associated with using unrecycled and fresh seeds. The cost–benefit analysis made clear that farmers can reduce their seed costs through seed recycling, but their yields and net income can be best improved by using unrecycled certified bread wheat seed (CBWS). Thus, farmers must be encouraged to use unrecycled seed by establishing agricultural credit schemes geared towards seed procurement and seed price subsidy as key strategies to reduce economically wasteful seed recycling practices.

Previous studies investigated the effects of seed rates and seed recycling practices on the yield and yield related variables. However, higher yield does not always guarantee cost-efficiency. This study aimed at investigating the yield effects of plot-level seed rate along with the cost-benefit analysis of seed recycling practices. This study has introduced the dose-response model to the existing analytical methods used in analyzing the effect of different agrochemicals on crop yield. A multi-stage stratified sampling technique was used to select a total of 450 sample respondents. Data was gathered using a mix of data collection tools. Descriptive statistics along with the dose-response model have been applied for data analysis. Farmers of the study were found to be dissimilar in terms of their seed rate application. The dose-response analysis indicated that the highest average wheat yield has been associated with a seed rate of 50 kg ha-1 above what is recommended. The yield effect of seed recycling has also been assessed and a one-time seed recycling has caused a yield decline of 665 kg ha-1 as compared to the non-recycled seeds. The cost reduced by using recycled seed is by far lower than the economic gains associated with using unrecycled and fresh seeds. The cost-benefit analysis made clear that farmers can reduce their seed costs through seed recycling but their yields and net income can be best improved by using unrecycled CBWS. Thus, farmers must be encouraged to make use of unrecycled seed by establishing agricultural credit schemes geared towards seed procurement and seed price subsidy as key strategies to reduce economically wasteful seed recycling practices.