Conservation Agriculture Benefits Indian Farmers, but Technology Targeting Needed for Greater Impacts

Rice and wheat production in the intensive, irrigated farming systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) is associated with significant negative environmental and health externalities. Conservation Agriculture (CA) has the potential to curb some of these externalities while enhancing farm income. How...

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Autores principales: Krishna, Vijesh V., Keil, Alwin, Jain, Meha, Weiqi Zhou, Jose, Monish, Surendran-Padmaja, Subash, Barba-Escoto, Luis, Singh, Balwinder, Jat, Mangi Lal, Erenstein, Olaf
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Frontiers Media 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126826
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author Krishna, Vijesh V.
Keil, Alwin
Jain, Meha
Weiqi Zhou
Jose, Monish
Surendran-Padmaja, Subash
Barba-Escoto, Luis
Singh, Balwinder
Jat, Mangi Lal
Erenstein, Olaf
author_browse Barba-Escoto, Luis
Erenstein, Olaf
Jain, Meha
Jat, Mangi Lal
Jose, Monish
Keil, Alwin
Krishna, Vijesh V.
Singh, Balwinder
Surendran-Padmaja, Subash
Weiqi Zhou
author_facet Krishna, Vijesh V.
Keil, Alwin
Jain, Meha
Weiqi Zhou
Jose, Monish
Surendran-Padmaja, Subash
Barba-Escoto, Luis
Singh, Balwinder
Jat, Mangi Lal
Erenstein, Olaf
author_sort Krishna, Vijesh V.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Rice and wheat production in the intensive, irrigated farming systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) is associated with significant negative environmental and health externalities. Conservation Agriculture (CA) has the potential to curb some of these externalities while enhancing farm income. However, farmer adoption of CA remains modest in the Indian IGP. The present study focuses on the constraints to adopting the major CA component, zero tillage (ZT). We examine whether ZT wheat is feasible for smallholders and the potential of technology targeting to realize faster and wider diffusion. Econometric models and machine learning algorithms were used to analyze remote sensing data and farm household data collected from the Indian states of Punjab and Bihar, two contrasting agrarian economies of the IGP. While farmer adoption was low among smallholders (owning <2 ha of land), the on-farm effects of ZT on variable cost reduction and yield and profit enhancement for smallholders are comparable to large farmers. We estimate the economic potential of technology targeting using an equilibrium displacement model. In the relatively developed state of Punjab, technology targeting based on landholding size does not appear to add substantive economic benefits. In Bihar, a less prosperous state with a dominance of smallholders in the population, technology targeting could markedly enhance economic surplus and reduce rural poverty.
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spelling CGSpace1268262025-12-08T10:29:22Z Conservation Agriculture Benefits Indian Farmers, but Technology Targeting Needed for Greater Impacts Krishna, Vijesh V. Keil, Alwin Jain, Meha Weiqi Zhou Jose, Monish Surendran-Padmaja, Subash Barba-Escoto, Luis Singh, Balwinder Jat, Mangi Lal Erenstein, Olaf zero tillage inclusion smallholders economic impact remote sensing Rice and wheat production in the intensive, irrigated farming systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) is associated with significant negative environmental and health externalities. Conservation Agriculture (CA) has the potential to curb some of these externalities while enhancing farm income. However, farmer adoption of CA remains modest in the Indian IGP. The present study focuses on the constraints to adopting the major CA component, zero tillage (ZT). We examine whether ZT wheat is feasible for smallholders and the potential of technology targeting to realize faster and wider diffusion. Econometric models and machine learning algorithms were used to analyze remote sensing data and farm household data collected from the Indian states of Punjab and Bihar, two contrasting agrarian economies of the IGP. While farmer adoption was low among smallholders (owning <2 ha of land), the on-farm effects of ZT on variable cost reduction and yield and profit enhancement for smallholders are comparable to large farmers. We estimate the economic potential of technology targeting using an equilibrium displacement model. In the relatively developed state of Punjab, technology targeting based on landholding size does not appear to add substantive economic benefits. In Bihar, a less prosperous state with a dominance of smallholders in the population, technology targeting could markedly enhance economic surplus and reduce rural poverty. 2022-03-15 2023-01-11T09:02:53Z 2023-01-11T09:02:53Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126826 en Open Access application/pdf Frontiers Media Krishna, V. V., Keil, A., Jain, M., Zhou, W., Jose, M., Surendran-Padmaja, S., Barba-Escoto, L., Balwinder-Singh, Jat, M. L., & Erenstein, O. (2022). Conservation Agriculture Benefits Indian Farmers, but Technology Targeting Needed for Greater Impacts. Frontiers in Agronomy, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fagro.2022.772732
spellingShingle zero tillage
inclusion
smallholders
economic impact
remote sensing
Krishna, Vijesh V.
Keil, Alwin
Jain, Meha
Weiqi Zhou
Jose, Monish
Surendran-Padmaja, Subash
Barba-Escoto, Luis
Singh, Balwinder
Jat, Mangi Lal
Erenstein, Olaf
Conservation Agriculture Benefits Indian Farmers, but Technology Targeting Needed for Greater Impacts
title Conservation Agriculture Benefits Indian Farmers, but Technology Targeting Needed for Greater Impacts
title_full Conservation Agriculture Benefits Indian Farmers, but Technology Targeting Needed for Greater Impacts
title_fullStr Conservation Agriculture Benefits Indian Farmers, but Technology Targeting Needed for Greater Impacts
title_full_unstemmed Conservation Agriculture Benefits Indian Farmers, but Technology Targeting Needed for Greater Impacts
title_short Conservation Agriculture Benefits Indian Farmers, but Technology Targeting Needed for Greater Impacts
title_sort conservation agriculture benefits indian farmers but technology targeting needed for greater impacts
topic zero tillage
inclusion
smallholders
economic impact
remote sensing
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126826
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