Farmerss Preferences for Climate-Smart Agriculture: An Assessment in the Indo-Gangetic Plain

Abstract

This study was undertaken to assess farmers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for various climate-smart interventions in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The research output will be helpful in integrating farmers’ choices with government programs in the selected regions. The Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) was selected because it is highly vulnerable to climate change, which could adversely affect the sustainability of the rice-wheat production system and the food security of the region. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) can mitigate the negative effects of climate change and improve the efficiency of the rice-wheat-based production system. To assess farmers’ choices and their WTP for the potential climate-smart technologies and other interventions, scoring and bidding protocols were implemented through focus group meetings. Laser land leveling (LLL), crop insurance, and weather advisory services were found to be the preferred interventions in the Eastern IGP, whereas, in the Western IGP, farmers preferred LLL, direct seeding, zero tillage, irrigation scheduling, and crop insurance. Through the bidding approach, farmers implicitly expressed their WTP for new technologies that could transform current agricultural practices into relatively low-carbon impact and more productive farming methods. But actual large-scale adoption of the preferred climate-smart technologies and other interventions would require access to funding as well as capacity building among technology promoters and users.