Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and extension advisory service (EAS) stakeholders' prioritisation: a case study of Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract

Abstract Several climate-smart agriculture (CSA) interventions are promoted by public, private and civil societies in India. However, there is a considerable variation among them. Therefore, to understand the different CSA interventions supported and prioritised by the public and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as well as their impacts at the farmer level, a case study was undertaken in Anantapur district, as it is highly vulnerable to climate change risks due to the increase in temperature, delayed monsoon, erratic rainfall and frequent occurrence of droughts. A case study research method was followed to assess the CSA interventions promoted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Department of Agriculture, Accion and Adarsha. The findings showed that KVK has focused its extension advisory services on the promotion of field crop (e.g. groundnut)-based CSA. The extension services of NGO-Accion were aimed at promoting horticulture, and Adarsha was prioritised promoting millet-based CSA interventions. Whereas the CSA priority of the department of agriculture was driven by the prevailing zero-budget natural farming project. However, interventions of KVK and NGOs were implemented on a limited scale. Therefore, the recommendations that emerged from the study will help the stakeholders to ensure convergence and foster synergy in implementing CSA interventions at scale. Some challenges faced during the research study were difficulties in the identification of the right stakeholders who were promoting CSA, also their technologies and services related to CSA. However, after a thorough discussion with the extension officers of Anantapur district, the stakeholders were identified and their CSA interventions were ascertained through focus group discussions and secondary data reviewed from magazines and other publications. Furthermore, the present study focused only on the CSA interventions promoted by two public sectors and two NGOs, and there is a wider scope for identifying more stakeholders, e.g. private sector, FPOs and entrepreneurs, and assessing their extent of involvement in the promotion of CSA and prioritisation.