Introduction: Iran has significant agricultural potential and like other countries, its agricultural sector is crucial for supplying food for humans, livestock, and poultry. However, a large portion of the country's economic budget is allocated annually to import oilseeds, meal, and vegetable oil. Recently, irrigated rapeseed has gained attention from farmers and producers. Enhancing rapeseed oil production in suitable provinces could reduce foreign exchange outflows and support self-sufficiency.
Materials and Methods: This research aimed at evaluating the efficiency of Iran’s 17 provinces that produce irrigated rapeseed production. The required data of the past decade were gathered from the Iranian Ministry of Agriculture-Jahad (MAJ). Two models including Windowed Data Envelopment Analysis (W-DEA) with a window width of 3, to evaluate each province's efficiency during specific intervals, and the BCC model, to calculate average efficiency scores from 2020 to 2022 for comparative analysis among the provinces were utilized.
Results and Discussion: The research results indicated that Tehran, Kermanshah, Khuzestan, Fars, and Golestan provinces, each with an average efficiency score of one, had excellent potential for the irrigated rapeseed production in Iran, followed by Qom, Ardabil, Razavi Khorasan, and Lorestan.
Conclusion and Suggestions: The research findings can enhance productivity and promote best practices in rapeseed farming by offering insights into resource allocation, policy effects, technology adoption, and sustainability. Identifying the provinces with production potential would benefit the concerned farmers and support broader agricultural development goals within the country.