Exploring farmer perceptions of agricultural innovations for maize-legume intensification in the mid-hills region of Nepal

Maize-legume intercropping is a fundamental component of mixed farming systems in the mid-hills of Nepal. However, its productivity is constrained by several biophysical and social factors, and limited adoption of proven agricultural innovations. In this study, we assessed the productivity impact of...

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Main Authors: Alomia-Hinojosa, Victoria, Speelman, Erika N., Thapa, Arun, Wei, Hsiang-En, McDonald, Andrew J., Tittonell, Pablo Adrian, Groot, Jeroen C.J.
Format: info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo
Language:Inglés
Published: Taylor & Francis 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/7288
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14735903.2018.1423723
https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2018.1423723
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author Alomia-Hinojosa, Victoria
Speelman, Erika N.
Thapa, Arun
Wei, Hsiang-En
McDonald, Andrew J.
Tittonell, Pablo Adrian
Groot, Jeroen C.J.
author_browse Alomia-Hinojosa, Victoria
Groot, Jeroen C.J.
McDonald, Andrew J.
Speelman, Erika N.
Thapa, Arun
Tittonell, Pablo Adrian
Wei, Hsiang-En
author_facet Alomia-Hinojosa, Victoria
Speelman, Erika N.
Thapa, Arun
Wei, Hsiang-En
McDonald, Andrew J.
Tittonell, Pablo Adrian
Groot, Jeroen C.J.
author_sort Alomia-Hinojosa, Victoria
collection INTA Digital
description Maize-legume intercropping is a fundamental component of mixed farming systems in the mid-hills of Nepal. However, its productivity is constrained by several biophysical and social factors, and limited adoption of proven agricultural innovations. In this study, we assessed the productivity impact of a selection of relevant agricultural innovations and changes in the associated perceptions of farmers through a series of two-year participatory on-farm trials. The evaluated innovations resulted in higher yields as compared to farmers’ current practices. The active involvement of farmers enlarged our understanding of underlying decisionmaking factors to adopt or non-adopt agricultural innovations. Additionally, the indepth farmer engagement in our onfarm trials positively influenced farmer perceptions of the innovations and their interest to adopt the agricultural innovations. Yet, farmers final decisions to adopt some of the evaluated innovations were limited by a host of factors including labour scarcity, the availability of inputs, and by cultural preferences despite the increased yields. This was particularly true for low and medium resource-endowed farmers. This study shows the importance of active farmer participation and context-specific design of research and development projects aiming for local impact.
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institution Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina)
language Inglés
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
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spelling INTA72882024-02-29T11:59:12Z Exploring farmer perceptions of agricultural innovations for maize-legume intensification in the mid-hills region of Nepal Alomia-Hinojosa, Victoria Speelman, Erika N. Thapa, Arun Wei, Hsiang-En McDonald, Andrew J. Tittonell, Pablo Adrian Groot, Jeroen C.J. Sistemas Agroalimentarios Adopción de Innovaciones Intensificación Agrifood Systems Innovation Adoption Intensification Intensificación Sustentable Maize-legume intercropping is a fundamental component of mixed farming systems in the mid-hills of Nepal. However, its productivity is constrained by several biophysical and social factors, and limited adoption of proven agricultural innovations. In this study, we assessed the productivity impact of a selection of relevant agricultural innovations and changes in the associated perceptions of farmers through a series of two-year participatory on-farm trials. The evaluated innovations resulted in higher yields as compared to farmers’ current practices. The active involvement of farmers enlarged our understanding of underlying decisionmaking factors to adopt or non-adopt agricultural innovations. Additionally, the indepth farmer engagement in our onfarm trials positively influenced farmer perceptions of the innovations and their interest to adopt the agricultural innovations. Yet, farmers final decisions to adopt some of the evaluated innovations were limited by a host of factors including labour scarcity, the availability of inputs, and by cultural preferences despite the increased yields. This was particularly true for low and medium resource-endowed farmers. This study shows the importance of active farmer participation and context-specific design of research and development projects aiming for local impact. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche Fil: Alomia-Hinojosa, Victoria. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group, Plant Sciences; Holanda Fil: Speelman, Erika N. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group, Plant Sciences; Holanda Fil: Thapa, Arun. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group, Plant Sciences; Holanda Fil: Wei, Hsiang-En. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group, Plant Sciences; Holanda Fil: McDonald, Andrew J. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT); Nepal Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Área de Recursos Naturales; Argentina Fil: Groot, Jeroen C.J. Wageningen University & Research. Farming Systems Ecology Group, Plant Sciences; Holanda 2020-05-21T14:01:08Z 2020-05-21T14:01:08Z 2018 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/7288 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14735903.2018.1423723 1473-5903 1747-762X https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2018.1423723 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Taylor & Francis International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 16 (1) : 74–93 (2018)
spellingShingle Sistemas Agroalimentarios
Adopción de Innovaciones
Intensificación
Agrifood Systems
Innovation Adoption
Intensification
Intensificación Sustentable
Alomia-Hinojosa, Victoria
Speelman, Erika N.
Thapa, Arun
Wei, Hsiang-En
McDonald, Andrew J.
Tittonell, Pablo Adrian
Groot, Jeroen C.J.
Exploring farmer perceptions of agricultural innovations for maize-legume intensification in the mid-hills region of Nepal
title Exploring farmer perceptions of agricultural innovations for maize-legume intensification in the mid-hills region of Nepal
title_full Exploring farmer perceptions of agricultural innovations for maize-legume intensification in the mid-hills region of Nepal
title_fullStr Exploring farmer perceptions of agricultural innovations for maize-legume intensification in the mid-hills region of Nepal
title_full_unstemmed Exploring farmer perceptions of agricultural innovations for maize-legume intensification in the mid-hills region of Nepal
title_short Exploring farmer perceptions of agricultural innovations for maize-legume intensification in the mid-hills region of Nepal
title_sort exploring farmer perceptions of agricultural innovations for maize legume intensification in the mid hills region of nepal
topic Sistemas Agroalimentarios
Adopción de Innovaciones
Intensificación
Agrifood Systems
Innovation Adoption
Intensification
Intensificación Sustentable
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/7288
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14735903.2018.1423723
https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2018.1423723
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