Abstract:
Today, the society is moving to the sustainable agriculture where the major concern of the consumers
are health benefits and environment pollution. Therefore, the production of organic tea plays a major
role in tea industry. In Uva region, the highest number of organic tea smallholders are in Diyathalawa and
their productivity is varied from farmer to farmer and therefore, necessity of how to maximize the
productivity arises. Hence, this research aims to find the determinants of the technical efficiency of the
organic tea smallholders. Data were collected from organic tea smallholders in Diyathalwa using stratified
random sampling method. The data were analyzed using stochastic frontier production model. The results
suggest that mean technical efficiency of organic tea smallholders is 24.7%. Most importantly, the efficiency
of organic tea production increases when tea smallholders are educated and young. The results further
reveal that efficiency in organic tea production reduces if the tea smallholders diversify their crop
cultivation and engage in livestock management.
