Productive efficiency of agricultural sector in Uttar Pradesh

It is well known that agriculture is the backbone of the economy of rural India and the recent policy initiatives in this sector have received wide research and popular attention. Thus, a detailed analysis of the performance of the sector in some of the major agricultural states is highly warranted. The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the productive efficiency of the agricultural sector in Uttar Pradesh (UP) using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Keeping students and other practitioners in mind, an overview of the DEA field is provided, and key models are explained with a minimum of technical language and readers’ prior knowledge. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there has been no such district-level study of agricultural performance conducted for UP. Overall, the chapter is written as the equivalent of a full-day workshop lecture on the topic.