PONE-D-23-33204Production Risk and Technical Efficiency of Dry-Season Vegetable Farmers in the Upper East Region of Ghana.PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Akolgo,

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PLOS ONE

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5. We note that you have referenced (Effiong, E. (2005). Efficiency of production in selected livestock enterprises in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Unpublished Ph. D Dissertation. Department of Agricultural Economics, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike.) and (Idiong, I. (2006). Evaluation of technical, allocative and economic efficiencies in rice production systems in Cross River State, Nigeria. Unpublished Ph. D Dissertation. Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike.) which has currently not yet been accepted for publication. Please remove this from your References and amend this to state in the body of your manuscript: (ie “Bewick et al. [Unpublished]”) as detailed online in our guide for authors

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Partly

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The study is quite interesting but need some major revisions for making it more understandable. There is high recommendation to recheck sentence structure and grammatical error. The paper should help by the number of lines that reviewers can provide suggestion through line numbers.

Besides, the following recommendations and revisions are needed:

Abstract:

1. “Farmers in the Upper East Region of Ghana have taken advantage of the increasing demand for vegetable in Ghana to intensify vegetable production during dry season to raise income but the outputs have been low.” What does it mean? Do the citizens aware about their health problems and want to take vegetables? There are several studies found that citizens of developing countries like Ghana are not aware of taking balanced diet.

Though, the authors mentioned that the production of vegetables are low but farmer can take advantages of producing vegetables by what? exporting vegetables? Or increasing vegetables intake?

2. “Furthermore, labour cost, seed cost and agrochemical costs decrease the variability of

vegetable output whilst fertilizer and irrigation costs increase the variability of returns of vegetable production.” What does “variability” mean here? To what extent the variability exposes?

Introduction:

1. The food insecurity and poverty are triggered by not only COVID-19 but also conflict and climate change. In fact, conflict and climate change triggers it more than COVID-19.

2. The motive of the study is not cleared here.

3. Justification of the study is also not cleared here.

4. A constructive literature review is highly recommended here.

The author would benefit from the following papers:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372685863_Climate_change_and_agriculture_nexus_in_Bangladesh_Evidence_from_ARDL_and_ECM_techniques

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369013150_Economic_assessment_of_rice_farmers'_climate_change_adaptation_options_and_their_sustainability_a_case_of_Pabna_district_Bangladesh

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356503914_Assessing_Livelihood_Adaptation_Indices_and_the_Sustainability_of_Rice_Farmers_in_Bangladesh's_Northwestern_Region

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315368214_Perception_of_and_Adaptive_Capacities_to_Climate_Change_Adaptation_Strategies_and_Their_Effects_on_Rice_Production_A_Case_of_Pabna_District_Bangladesh

Methodology

1. The explanation of model is unclear about the estimation. The stochastic frontier model is used here for estimating technical efficiency but the technical efficiency here are not explain the adaptation of technology. That’s why here used production risk model.

But in result section, both models were estimated to explain both technical efficiency and production risk.

2. Why does elasticity estimation need here, there is no justification mentioned here.

3. There is no explanation of any model which mentioned the estimation of source of technical inefficiency.

Results:

1. In efficiency model both frontier model and average model were needed to estimate to compare which is best fit.

2. In explanation, how much the variables increase or decrease the efficiency, didn’t mention.

3. Which variables increase or decrease production risk mention here but didn’t mention how much increase or decrease production risk.

Summary:

Summary of key finding needs to revise again after revising the mentioned revisions.

Conclusion:

The conclusion and recommendations are nothing but summarise of the study. A revised conclusion and recommendations are recommended.

Reviewer #2: The study investigated production risk, technical efficiency, and the determinants of dry-season vegetable production in Ghana. The article is well-written and addresses a key issue. I only have minor concerns. Below are my suggestions and comments.

Add the aim of the study to the background of the abstract.

State the independent variables used in the inefficiency model.

In the result section, also give the monetary values in an international currency (USD) to enable readers to understand the value.

There is a need to further discuss the result, especially the maximum likelihood estimates of the trans-log mean stochastic function. Give possible reasons for each significant independent variable.

A summary of the study is not necessary as it is a repetition of what you have under condition.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes: Ridwan Mukaila

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PONE-D-23-33204R1Production Risk and Technical Efficiency of Dry-Season Vegetable Farmers in the Upper East Region of Ghana.PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Akolgo,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

==============================Editor's Comments:I am pleased to inform you that experts in the field have reviewed your manuscript. Kindly address the comments of reviewer 1 as early as possible. Thank you.

==============================

Please submit your revised manuscript by Jun 21 2024 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols.

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Olutosin Ademola Otekunrin

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Partly

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The author didn’t address all the point of revision. It was recommended that the line number need to add. But author didn’t add any number line which mislead me in revision. The authors tried to improve the grammatical error. But still, they should check it again. There is major grammatical error in the whole writing.

Abstract: 1. “Farmers in the Upper East Region …….. abysmally low.” Please remove intensified.

2. “With the present state of technology and resource constraints of farmers……” What does it mean by options? Please clarify.

Introduction: 1. Still justification and motive of the study is still unclear.

Literature: A constructive literature was recommended. Author didn’t address any literature review.

The author would benefit from the following papers:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372685863_Climate_change_and_agriculture_nexus_in_Bangladesh_Evidence_from_ARDL_and_ECM_techniques

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369013150_Economic_assessment_of_rice_farmers'_climate_change_adaptation_options_and_their_sustainability_a_case_of_Pabna_district_Bangladesh

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356503914_Assessing_Livelihood_Adaptation_Indices_and_the_Sustainability_of_Rice_Farmers_in_Bangladesh's_Northwestern_Region

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315368214_Perception_of_and_Adaptive_Capacities_to_Climate_Change_Adaptation_Strategies_and_Their_Effects_on_Rice_Production_A_Case_of_Pabna_District_Bangladesh

Methodology:

1. The authors use production risk function to capture farm’s risk behaviour. But why did you use only technical efficiency model? Isn’t both technical and profit efficiency would calculate here to understand farmer’s behaviour in risky situation?

Result:

1. In explanation, how much the variables increase or decrease the efficiency, didn’t mention yet.

2. Which variables increase or decrease production risk mention here but still didn’t mention how much increase or decrease production risk.

3. the authors didn’t link their result to previous study.

Limitation: What are the limitations of the study? Mention the limitations.

Reviewer #2: I do not have additional comments, as my earlier comments have been adequately addressed.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes: Ridwan Mukaila

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[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

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Production Risk and Technical Efficiency of Dry-Season Vegetable Farmers in the Upper East Region of Ghana.

PONE-D-23-33204R2

Dear Dr. Akolgo,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Olutosin Ademola Otekunrin

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: Yes: Farjana Eyasmin

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