Abstract: Shandong Province is a major agricultural province and one of the main grain producing areas in China. Its grain production is related to national food security. Based on the input and output data of wheat and maize production in 17 cities of Shandong Province, the three-stage DEA model was used to measure the grain production efficiency in Shandong Province. The results show that the average value of comprehensive technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency of grain production in Shandong Province is non-DEA effective. Although the pure technical efficiency is not optimal, it is at a high level. The main factor affecting the efficiency of grain production is the lack of scale efficiency. The scale efficiency and pure technical efficiency of maize are better than those of wheat; in the process of wheat and corn production, the comprehensive technical efficiency values of the two cities with high efficiency are 1.000, and the comprehensive technical efficiency values of the two cities with low efficiency are 0.229 and 0.206, respectively. There are large differences in grain production efficiency and unbalanced development among 17 cities in Shandong Province. Studies have shown that on the basis of protecting cultivated land, the efficiency of large-scale grain production should be improved and the land utilization rate should be increased. Efforts should be made to continuously strengthen the investment in science and technology, reduce the production cost of wheat, ensure the steady improvement of wheat yield; suggestions are made for food production in different cities.

Key words: grain production efficiency, DEA model, Shandong Province