EFICIÊNCIA ECONÔMICA DA CAFEICULTURA NO SUL DE MINAS GERAIS: UMA ABORDAGEM PELA ANÁLISE ENVOLTÓRIA DE DADOS Economic efficiency of coffee production in South region of Minas Gerais state: an approach for Data Envelopment Analysis

Through this study, we sought to assess the economic efficiency of the allocation of productive resources of coffee production in South region of Minas Gerais state. The cities and towns surveyed are among the largest producers in the South of the state, such as Alfenas, Guaxupe, Sao Sebastiao do Paraiso, Varginha, and Tres Pontas, in a total of 46 coffee farms. This study is based on the principles of the theory of production and cost and uses the Data Envelopment Analysis to evaluate the economic efficiency of farmers surveyed. The technical coefficients refer to agricultural years 2006/2007, 2007/2008 and 2008/2009, which were adjusted for the 2008/2009 season. On average, farmers have economic efficiency of 64.08%. We considered an efficient producer of coffee the one in which the measure of economic efficiency (EE) was equal or higher than 90.0%. Only 13.4% of farmers achieved the minimum score of efficiency. The results indicate inefficient use of productive resources in most cases, both technically and economically.