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Abstract
Freshwater aquaculture is an important and promising sector of the economy of Tripura State. The
biophysical potential for growth in freshwater aquaculture in the state is still far from exhaustion and a
faster development is required to meet the growth in demand for fish. This paper has assessed the level of
technical efficiency and its determinants of small-scale fish production in the West Tripura district of the
state of Tripura, India. The study is based on the cross-sectional primary data collected from 101 fish
farmers through a multi-stage random sampling method. The paper has employed stochastic production
frontier approach, and has followed both one-stage and two-stage procedures to analyze the determinants
of TE. The TE ranges between 0.21 and 0.96 with mean of 0.66 and median of 0.71. The study has revealed
the Cobb-Douglas form of stochastic frontier production function is more dependable than that of translog
form under the farming conditions in the West Tripura district of Tripura state. One-stage procedure with
technical inefficiency model gives reliable estimates of coefficients of stochastic frontier production
function than that of two-stage procedure. Seed quality has been found as an important determinant of TE.
The study has suggested that the state government needs to play a role to ascertain the supply of quality
fish fingerlings at adequate time and quantity to the farmers in the study area.