ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Agricultural and Food Economics
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1586506
This article is part of the Research TopicEnvironmental Resilience and Sustainable Agri-food System ManagementView all 22 articles
Assessing the impact of heat stress on technical efficiency in rice production: Evidence from Japanese farmers using a stochastic frontier approach
Provisionally accepted
- 1Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
- 2Miyagi University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
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Background: Climate change and associated heat stress threaten agricultural productivity, particularly rice production. Japan, characterized by its monsoon climate and heavy reliance on rice as a staple food, faces heightened risks from extreme temperatures. These conditions disrupt key physiological processes that are essential for rice yield and production efficiency. Objective: This study investigates the impact of interannual temperature variability and heat stress on Japanese rice farmers' technical efficiency (TE), emphasizing farm-level dynamics and climatic influences. Methods: By using panel data from the Kome Seisanhi Chosa Tokei (2008–2016), this study employs a dynamic panel model estimated using System Generalized Method-of-Moments (SYS-GMM). The Heat Stress Index (HSI) is constructed based on cumulative heat exposure and consecutive high-temperature days, whereas the TE is estimated using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Results: The results reveal that heat stress significantly reduces TE, with marginal increases in HSI amplifying its negative effects. Rainfall variability has mixed impacts: abnormal rainfall during heading reduces efficiency, whereas additional rainfall during maturity enhances efficiency. Conclusion: These findings highlight the need for adaptive measures, such as heat-tolerant rice varieties and optimized resource management, to mitigate climate risks and enhance productivity.
Keywords: Climate Change, Heat stress, Technical efficiency, Dynamic panel, Farm-level data
Received: 03 Mar 2025; Accepted: 27 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xue, Mizuki and Kawashima. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Asato Mizuki, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
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