The Growth of Total Factors Productivity of Agricultural Sector in Iran and its Perspective in the Fourth Development Plan

   Productivity has a key role in the growth of production and the increase of compatibility. The effectiveness of the function of different economical sectors in using production resources can be determined through the calculation and analysis of productivity indices. In this research, the growth of total factors productivity of agricultural sector during 1976-2003 was studied and its trend was investigated. Growth of TFP was calculated through the time series data. The use of this method required the estimation of production function of agricultural sector. So, production function of agricultural sector was estimated using ARDL method at first, and then the growth of TFP in agricultural sector was calculated. The results showed that the growth of TFP had a lot of fluctuation and its average was 2.5% in agricultural sector. This showed the proper growth and productivity of agricultural sector in the optimal use of production resource. In the 4th development plan, the growth of TFP has been assigned to be 2.2%, regarding the results; the determined goal seems not to be far from being reached.