Rice (Oryza sativa L.) production is a cornerstone of Ecuador's economy. This research evaluates the efficiency of 609 production units during 2019, addressing the need for statistical robustness in agricultural efficiency estimators. Using a national representative survey, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was applied under Variable Returns Scale (VRS) and Constant Returns to Scale (CRS). To account for sampling noise, the Simar & Wilson (2007) bootstrap procedure (2,000 replications) was implemented to provide bias-corrected scores and 95% confidence intervals. The bootstrap-corrected analysis revealed a mean technical efficiency of 0.632 (95% CI: 0.596 – 0.668), suggesting a potential 36.8% input reduction without output loss. Significant provincial heterogeneity was observed: Manabí led in technical efficiency (0.743), while El Oro achieved the highest cost efficiency (0.435) du...