Adoption Of Soil Conservation Measures Research Articles

Price and Subsidy Policy on Soil Conservation: Application to Smallholder Tea Growers

The role of commodity prices and subsidies on the adoption of soil conservation has been widely debated yet is poorly understood. One reason for this is the complex nature of the relationship between soil loss and yield damage. This paper examines the effects of price and subsidy policy on adoption of soil conservation measures in tea lands in Sri Lanka. The soil conservation technologies considered are lateral drains, stone terraces and Sloping Agricultural Land Technique (SALT). The study uses a non-linear yield damage function to estimate tea yield loss due to soil erosion. The yield function is then used in conjunction with a simple analytical model to examine the effects of changes in price and subsidies on the incentives to adopt various soil conservation technologies. When there is a yield increment with soil conservation, increases in both prices and subsidies are found to make soil conservation economically attractive.

Poverty, consumption risk, and soil conservation

This paper studies the impact of poverty and uninsured consumption risk on incentives to invest in soil conservation. A stochastic dynamic model is used to show how consumption risks and costs of investment influence incentives to adopt soil conservation measures on low-income farms. The model is calibrated using production data from hillside farms in the Philippines. Simulations with the model demonstrate how the value of soil conservation depends on the cost of investing, the risk characteristics of the soil conservation method and differences among households in capacity to bear risk. Model predictions are compared with empirical adoption patterns, as described by a probit model and nonparametric kernel regressions of adoption probability. Empirical findings show how differences in farm size, tenure security, risk exposure, and access to credit help to explain patterns of soil conservation adoption. Implications for policy are discussed.

Determination of yield and erosion damage functions using subjectively elicited data: application to smallholder tea in Sri Lanka

Tea has been Sri Lanka’s major export earner for several decades. However, soil erosion on tea‐producing land has had considerable on‐site and off‐site effects. This study quantifies soil erosion impacts for smallholder tea farms in Sri Lanka by estimating a yield damage function and an erosion damage function using a subjective elicitation technique. The Mitscherlich‐Spillman type of function was found to yield acceptable results. The study indicates that high rates of soil erosion require earlier adoption of soil conservation measures than do low rates of erosion. Sensitivity analysis shows the optimum year to change to a conservation practice is very sensitive to the discount rate but less sensitive to the cost of production and price of tea.

Economics of Soil Conservation: The Upper Mahaweli Watershed of Sir Lanka

This paper estimates the benefits and costs of soil conservation in the Upper Mahaweli Watershed of Sir Lanka. The costs of soil erosion control include the implementation costs of control measures, while the benefits are reductions in the costs of soil erosion. In contrast to many studies in developed countries, the on‐site benefit of soil erosion control in Sri Lanka is estimated to be greater than the off‐site benefit While a social benefit‐cost analysis demonstrates that it is socially desirable to implement conservation measures, the private financial analyses indicate that it is feasible for individual farmers to adopt the conservation measures. Despite private economic feasibility, programs addressing farmers' reluctance to adopt soil conservation measures may be preferable to public intervention in soil conservation activities when the on‐site benefits are greater than the off‐site benefits.

A Note on the Adoption of Soil Conservation Measures in the Northern Province of South Africa

This study attempts to expand the range of explanatory variables used in adoption studies. The results suggest that awareness of soil erosion problems and increases in long‐term profit are significant indicators of the probability of adopting silt traps and contour ploughing as methods of soil conservation. Factors such as age, security of land tenure, informal communication, size of land holding and difficulty of adopting a particular technology, do not appear to be significant determinants of the adoption of soil conservation measures.

Possibilities for future carbon sequestration in Canadian agriculture in relation to land use changes

Increasing carbon sequestration in agricultural soils in Canada is examined as a possible strategy in slowing or stopping the current increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Estimates are provided on the amount of carbon that could be sequestered in soils in various regions in Canada by reducing summerfallow area, increased use of forage crops, improved erosion control, shifts from conventional to minimal and no-till, and more intensive use of fertilizers. The reduction of summerfallow by more intensive agriculture would increase the continuous cropland base by 8.1% in western Canada and 6.8% in all of Canada. Although increased organic carbon (OC) sequestration could be achieved in all agricultural regions, the greatest potential gains are in areas of Chernozemic soils. The best management options include reduction of summerfallow, conversion of fallow areas to hay or continuous cereals, fertilization to ensure nutrient balance, and adoption of soil conservation measures. The adoption of these options could sequester about 50-75% of the total agricultural emissions of CO2 in Canada for the next 30 years. However, increased sequestration of atmospheric carbon in the soil is possible for only a limited time. Increased efforts must be made to reduce emissions if long-term mitigation is to be achieved.

Price policy and returns to soil conservation in semi-arid Kenya

This paper develops an approach that uses relatively easily-available data to examine empirically how policy-induced price changes affect the incentives of farmers in developing countries to adopt soil conservation measures. The model shows that there is no simple relationship between price distortions created by government policies and farmers' incentives to adopt conservation measures. Policy-induced price changes could lead to either more or less conservation, depending on site-specific conditions. Data from a semi-arid region in Kenya are used to illustrate the magnitude and direction of changes in price policy on returns to terracing and to show how results are affected by the nature of the conservation technology. In the study area, higher commodity prices increase incentives to adopt conservation measures on steep slopes, but lower them on shallower slopes. If terraces were to require more land to be taken out of production than assumed in the calculations, higher commodity prices would tend to discourage farmers from adopting them.

Soil conservation and governmental policies in tropical areas: Does aid worsen the incentives for arresting erosion?

This paper focuses on how farmers respond with respect to the adoption of soil conservation measures to governmental agricultural policies aiming at supporting smallholders. A simple micro-economic framework was chosen to undertake an analysis of farmer choices among three activities; farming, adoption of soil conservation measures and off-farm work. The model shows that governments have to be cautious when designing support measures if improved resource management is a policy goal. In the design of such measures, attention has to be paid both to (1) the distribution in land quality, and (2) the distribution in the net returns from adopting soil conservation measures.

Soil conservation and governmental policies in tropical areas: Does aid worsen the incentives for arresting erosion?

AbstractThis paper focuses on how farmers respond with respect to the adoption of soil conservation measures to governmental agricultural policies aiming at supporting smallholders. A simple micro‐economic framework was chosen to undertake an analysis of farmer choices among three activities; farming, adoption of soil conservation measures and off‐farm work. The model shows that governments have to be cautious when designing support measures if improved resource management is a policy goal. In the design of such measures, attention has to be paid both to (1) the distribution in land quality, and (2) the distribution in the net returns from adopting soil conservation measures.