Productivity and Efficiency Impacts of Urea Deep Placement Technology in Modern Rice Production: an Empirical Analysis from Bangladesh

Background and statement of the problem: 120 words Research methodology and data: 120 words Research findings: 120 words Policy implications 40 words. Rice is the most dominant field crop in Bangladesh covering 75% of the total cultivated area and consumes 80% of the total fertilizers alone. Nevertheless, the productivity of rice in Bangladesh remains one of the lowest in the world. Urea, the main source of nitrogen (N), plays a key role in rice production, is required in large amount, is the most limited nutrient and also suffers from heavy system losses. A worldwide crisis of urea fertilizer in 2008 spurred the need to economise on its use with urgency. The Urea Deep Placement (UDP) technology is aimed at increasing N fertilizer use efficiency in rice production and thus holds the promise to economize on the use of a very important but finite resource (i.e., urea) while improving rice productivity. The present study econometrically measures the impact of recently introduced UDP technology on productivity and efficiency of modern rice cultivation at the farm-level in Bangladesh using a stochastic production frontier approach. Data were