Abstract
In India, there is increasing recognition among policy-makers of the largely untapped potential of the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) for meeting state- and national-level food needs. Zero-tillage (ZT) is a proven technology for enhancing wheat productivity and, hence, food security in the IGP, while reducing production costs – a ‘win-win’ scenario that should support rapid technology scaling even though adoption remains modest to date. In order to inform policies and derive recommendations for a more effective extension strategy, this study investigated determinants of ZT adoption in the Eastern IGP using a random sample of 1000 wheat-growing households from Bihar, stratified by ZT adoption status. We corrected for potential non-exposure bias by using a two-stage estimation procedure that differentiates between factors affecting farmers’ awareness of ZT and those affecting adoption conditional on awareness. Owing to the relatively nascent stage of ZT diffusion in the area, we emphasized the role of information in the adoption process, including social networks, whereby we allowed for endogenous and exogenous network effects. Only 44% of sample households knew about ZT technology, and there was substantial scale bias in favor of larger scale farmers both with respect to awareness and adoption. Both the adoption behavior and characteristics of the respondents’ network members influenced their own awareness and adoption of ZT, particularly among farmers in the smallest landholding tercile. Farmers valued the time-saving potential of ZT, especially under conditions of increasingly unreliable monsoon rains resulting in a delayed rice crop and, consequently, late establishment of wheat which reduces yield. The fact that most farmers accessed ZT via custom-hire services was accounted for in the model, and the importance of proximate service providers confirmed. We conclude that there is need for further awareness-raising campaigns for ZT technology, whereby, apart from mass media, agricultural extension should use contact farmers belonging to different social strata for effective within-village diffusion of messages, especially to the poorer farmers. The social inclusiveness of ZT use can be enhanced by supporting the emergence of more ZT service providers and by developing business models that lower the transaction costs of servicing smaller farms.
Highlights
The Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) are home to more than 20% of the global population, and sustainably enhancing the productivity of the prevailing rice-wheat cropping systems will be of utmost importance for ensuring future food security (Chauhan et al 2012)
Based on the census data collected across the surveyed villages we calculated the average ZT adoption rate by individual farm households at 27.5%, whereas village-level adoption rates ranged from 1% to 93%
We tested the models for potential multicollinearity of explanatory variables by calculating Variance Inflation Factors (VIFs); we find that, apart from the VIFs on the variables Cultivable area and its squared term, which are high by definition, the maximum and mean values of VIFs in the adoption stage of Model 4 amount to 2.89 and 1.71, respectively, indicating no cause for concern with regard to multicollinearity
Summary
The Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) are home to more than 20% of the global population, and sustainably enhancing the productivity of the prevailing rice-wheat cropping systems will be of utmost importance for ensuring future food security (Chauhan et al 2012). Bihar has the lowest cereal yields in the IGP: over the period 2012/13–2013/14, wheat yields averaged 2.34 t ha−1, as opposed to 4.79 t ha−1 in the Northwestern state of Punjab (MoA 2015). Identifying technical entry points and strengthening support systems for innovations that will contribute to agricultural intensification in a manner that is environmentally sustainable, socioeconomically tenable, and, just as importantly, broadly scalable among smallholders presents a formidable challenge
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