Farm size limits agriculture's poverty reduction potential in Eastern India even with irrigation-led intensification
CONTEXT Millions of people living in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of India engage in agriculture to support their livelihoods yet are income poor, and food and climate insecure. To address these challenges, policymakers and development programs invest in irrigation-led agricultural intensificat...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129120 |
| _version_ | 1855515212815269888 |
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| author | Urfels, Anton Mausch, Kai Harris, Dave McDonald, Andrew J. Kishore, Avinash Balwinder-Singh, Poonia, S. Halsema, Gerardo van Struik, Paul C. Craufurd, Peter Q. Foster, Timothy Singh, Vartika Krupnik, Timothy J. |
| author_browse | Balwinder-Singh, Poonia, S. Craufurd, Peter Q. Foster, Timothy Halsema, Gerardo van Harris, Dave Kishore, Avinash Krupnik, Timothy J. Mausch, Kai McDonald, Andrew J. Singh, Vartika Struik, Paul C. Urfels, Anton |
| author_facet | Urfels, Anton Mausch, Kai Harris, Dave McDonald, Andrew J. Kishore, Avinash Balwinder-Singh, Poonia, S. Halsema, Gerardo van Struik, Paul C. Craufurd, Peter Q. Foster, Timothy Singh, Vartika Krupnik, Timothy J. |
| author_sort | Urfels, Anton |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | CONTEXT
Millions of people living in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of India engage in agriculture to support their livelihoods yet are income poor, and food and climate insecure. To address these challenges, policymakers and development programs invest in irrigation-led agricultural intensification. However, the evidence for agricultural intensification to lift farmers' incomes above the poverty line remains largely anecdotal.
OBJECTIVE
The main objective of this study is to use a large household survey (n = 15,572; rice: 8244, wheat: 7328; 2017/18) to assess the link between agricultural intensification and personal daily incomes from farming (FPDI) in the rice-wheat systems of the EGP – the dominant cropping system of the region.
METHODS
We use the Intensification Benefit Index (IBI), a measure that relates farm size and household size to FPDI, to assess how daily incomes from rice-wheat production change with irrigation-led intensification across the EGP.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Relative to the international poverty line of 1.90 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)$ day−1 and accounting for variations in HH size in the analysis, we found that small farm sizes limit the potential for agricultural intensification from irrigation to transform the poverty status of households in the bottom three quartiles of the IBI. The estimated median FPDI of households with intensified systems in the bottom three quartiles is only 0.51 PPP$ day−1 (a 0.15 PPP$ gain). The median FPDI increases to 2.10 PPP$ day−1 for households in the upper quartile of the IBI distribution (a 0.30 PPP$ gain). Irrigation-led agricultural intensification of rice-wheat systems in the EGP may provide substantial benefits for resilience to climatic change and food security but achieving meaningful poverty reduction will require complementary investments.
SIGNIFICANCE
Transforming the poverty status of most smallholder farmers in the EGP requires diversified portfolios of rural on- and off-farm income-generating opportunities. While bolstering food- and climate security, agronomic intervention programs should consider smallholders' limited monetary incentives to invest in intensification. Irrigation-led agricultural intensification programs and policies should explicitly account for the heterogeneity in household resources, irrigation levels, and degree of dependence on agricultural income. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace129120 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1291202025-10-26T13:02:00Z Farm size limits agriculture's poverty reduction potential in Eastern India even with irrigation-led intensification Urfels, Anton Mausch, Kai Harris, Dave McDonald, Andrew J. Kishore, Avinash Balwinder-Singh, Poonia, S. Halsema, Gerardo van Struik, Paul C. Craufurd, Peter Q. Foster, Timothy Singh, Vartika Krupnik, Timothy J. agriculture farming systems food insecurity households income irrigation poverty research methods surveys climate change CONTEXT Millions of people living in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of India engage in agriculture to support their livelihoods yet are income poor, and food and climate insecure. To address these challenges, policymakers and development programs invest in irrigation-led agricultural intensification. However, the evidence for agricultural intensification to lift farmers' incomes above the poverty line remains largely anecdotal. OBJECTIVE The main objective of this study is to use a large household survey (n = 15,572; rice: 8244, wheat: 7328; 2017/18) to assess the link between agricultural intensification and personal daily incomes from farming (FPDI) in the rice-wheat systems of the EGP – the dominant cropping system of the region. METHODS We use the Intensification Benefit Index (IBI), a measure that relates farm size and household size to FPDI, to assess how daily incomes from rice-wheat production change with irrigation-led intensification across the EGP. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Relative to the international poverty line of 1.90 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)$ day−1 and accounting for variations in HH size in the analysis, we found that small farm sizes limit the potential for agricultural intensification from irrigation to transform the poverty status of households in the bottom three quartiles of the IBI. The estimated median FPDI of households with intensified systems in the bottom three quartiles is only 0.51 PPP$ day−1 (a 0.15 PPP$ gain). The median FPDI increases to 2.10 PPP$ day−1 for households in the upper quartile of the IBI distribution (a 0.30 PPP$ gain). Irrigation-led agricultural intensification of rice-wheat systems in the EGP may provide substantial benefits for resilience to climatic change and food security but achieving meaningful poverty reduction will require complementary investments. SIGNIFICANCE Transforming the poverty status of most smallholder farmers in the EGP requires diversified portfolios of rural on- and off-farm income-generating opportunities. While bolstering food- and climate security, agronomic intervention programs should consider smallholders' limited monetary incentives to invest in intensification. Irrigation-led agricultural intensification programs and policies should explicitly account for the heterogeneity in household resources, irrigation levels, and degree of dependence on agricultural income. 2023-04 2023-02-28T20:26:46Z 2023-02-28T20:26:46Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129120 en Open Access Elsevier Urfels, Anton; Mausch, Kai; Harris, Dave; McDonald, Andrew J.; Kishore, Avinash; Balwinder-Singh; von Halsema, Gerardo; Struik, Paul C.; Craufurd, Peter; Foster, Timothy J.; Singh, Vartika; and Krupnik, Timothy J. 2023. Farm size limits agriculture's poverty reduction potential in Eastern India even with irrigation-led intensification. Agricultural Systems 207(November 2023): 103618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2023.103618 |
| spellingShingle | agriculture farming systems food insecurity households income irrigation poverty research methods surveys climate change Urfels, Anton Mausch, Kai Harris, Dave McDonald, Andrew J. Kishore, Avinash Balwinder-Singh, Poonia, S. Halsema, Gerardo van Struik, Paul C. Craufurd, Peter Q. Foster, Timothy Singh, Vartika Krupnik, Timothy J. Farm size limits agriculture's poverty reduction potential in Eastern India even with irrigation-led intensification |
| title | Farm size limits agriculture's poverty reduction potential in Eastern India even with irrigation-led intensification |
| title_full | Farm size limits agriculture's poverty reduction potential in Eastern India even with irrigation-led intensification |
| title_fullStr | Farm size limits agriculture's poverty reduction potential in Eastern India even with irrigation-led intensification |
| title_full_unstemmed | Farm size limits agriculture's poverty reduction potential in Eastern India even with irrigation-led intensification |
| title_short | Farm size limits agriculture's poverty reduction potential in Eastern India even with irrigation-led intensification |
| title_sort | farm size limits agriculture s poverty reduction potential in eastern india even with irrigation led intensification |
| topic | agriculture farming systems food insecurity households income irrigation poverty research methods surveys climate change |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129120 |
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