Abstract
Despite hybrids being grown on 30–40 percent of the maize area in Pakistan, the retail price of hybrid maize seed is high in Pakistan compared with its neighbors in South Asia and beyond. Hence, this paper analyzes the adoption and impact of hybrid maize on livelihoods using a cross-sectional dataset collected from 822 maize growers in Pakistan. The data were collected from two types of farmers: adopters and nonadopters of hybrid maize, from four major provinces of Pakistan (Punjab, Sindh, KPK, and Balochistan). We use the bivariate probit to analyze the factors influencing the adoption of hybrid maize and the propensity score-matching (PSM) approach to analyze the impact of hybrid maize adoption on livelihood of maize growers, as PSM helps correct sample selection biasedness. The empirical result shows that farm size, farm and household assets, the level of education of farmers, access to market, and social networks positively influence the adoption of hybrid maize in Pakistan. The results from PSM revealed that hybrid maize adopters had higher grain yields in the range of 94–124 kgs per hectare as compared with nonadopters. Similarly household income levels were more in the range of Pakistani rupees 2,176–3,518, while the poverty levels were lower in the range of 2-3 percent for hybrid maize adopters. As hybrid maize adoption has had a positive impact on the livelihood of farmers, policies should aim to scale up the adoption of hybrid maize through enhancing the supply and lowering the seed cost through research and subsidy programs, thereby enabling poor farmers in remote areas to adopt hybrid maize varieties.
Highlights
In Pakistan, agriculture is the second most important sector of the economy [1], and maize is the third most important cereal after wheat and rice
Tenants have to share their output with the landlord, and net benefits are lower for investments for tenants; they have less incentive to invest on inputs including the hybrid seed. e age coefficient is negative and significant at a 5 percent level of significance, which implies that young farmers are more likely to adopt maize hybrids as compared to older farmers. is could be because young farmers have more awareness and are more likely to try to new technology compared with older farmers
Years of schooling was positive and highly significant at a 1 percent level of significance, which means that farmers with a better level of education had a greater probability of adopting maize hybrids as compared with those with a lower level of education; we can conclude that human capital plays a significant role in technology adoption and has a positive influence in scaling agricultural advancements in developing countries. e joint family system dummy (1 if the farmer lives in joint family; 0 otherwise) is positive and highly significant at a percent level of significance, implying that farmers living in the joint family system have a greater tendency to adopt maize hybrids compared with farmers living in a nuclear family system
Summary
In Pakistan, agriculture is the second most important sector of the economy (following textile and manufaturing industries) [1], and maize is the third most important cereal after wheat and rice. 30 percent of the land growing maize is used for hybrids, while 70 percent grows open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) (this indicates a huge expanding scope for maize hybrids in Pakistan). E demand for maize is increasing because of these multiusages, which is stimulating farmers to invest further in maize production (in Pakistan, the price of maize hybrid seed is among the highest in South Asia, at 7-8 US$ per kilogram). As maize is a quick growing crop with the potential to produce a high quantity of grains per unit area [3], it could contribute to improving the livelihood of poor rural farmers, thereby moving them out of poverty. As the price of maize hybrid seeds is high in Pakistan, smallholder farmers cannot afford to purchase it, which in turn force them to grow open-pollinated varieties
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