Agricultural Support Services Research Articles

Reverting Woodlots to Crop Fields in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania

For some decades, woodlots have been a salient feature of the agricultural landscapes of Mount Rungwe and Uporoto Highlands in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. Their proliferation amidst socioeconomic conditions and innovation in farming practices influence production choices, and consequently, land use changes. Recently, farmers are reverting prevailing woodlots into crop fields, particularly, Irish potatoes. We investigate this process in order to examine the determinants of the reversion and the implications to agricultural development and people’s livelihoods. The findings come from a survey of smallholders of woodlots in four villages around Mount Rungwe and Uporoto Highlands. Data were collected through structured and in-depth interviews, discussions with focused groups at village levels, review of documents and direct field observation. Time lag for woodlots, safeguarding households’ food security, lack of agricultural support services, high rental market, and emergence of other fruit trees are determinants of the reversion. The reversion has implications for farmers’ decreased access to reliable source of fuelwood as well as opportunity for livelihood diversification.

The Role of Extension Services in Implementing Livestock Policies

Purpose: The general objective of the study was to explore the role of extension services in implementing livestock practices. Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library. Findings: The findings reveal that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to the role of extension services in implementing livestock practices. Preliminary empirical review revealed that extension services played a crucial role in the implementation of livestock policies by bridging the gap between policy formulation and practical application. Extension services significantly enhanced farmers' adoption of health and biosecurity measures, sustainable practices, and modern technologies. It was found that areas with robust extension services showed higher compliance with livestock policies, leading to improved productivity and animal health. The study recommended increasing investment in extension services, enhancing training for extension agents, and utilizing digital tools to extend the reach and effectiveness of these services. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Diffusion of Innovations Theory, Theory of Planned Behaviour and Knowledge Transfer Theory may be used to anchor future studies on the role of extension services in the implementation of livestock practices. The study recommended enhancing theoretical frameworks to incorporate socio-economic and cultural contexts of livestock farmers, improving the capacity and training of extension agents, and leveraging digital tools for wider reach and efficiency. It also advised increasing government investment in extension services, integrating them with other agricultural support services, and tailoring policies to local conditions. Additionally, the study emphasized fostering strong partnerships among stakeholders to create a supportive environment for farmers, thereby enhancing the overall impact of extension services and livestock policies. Keywords: Extension Services, Livestock Policies, Policy Implementation, Capacity Building, Digital Tools, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)

Data-Driven Insights for Agricultural Extension Services in Rajasthan: A Study of Kisan Call Center Queries

Adopting a demand-driven approach in an ever-evolving agricultural domain is imperative for the effectiveness of agricultural extension services, particularly in the state of Rajasthan, India. The paper comprehensively analyses the vast dataset comprising over four million farmer query calls to the Kisan Call Center in Rajasthan from January 2009 to August 2023. These meticulously preprocessed call records serve as a crucial bridge between the agricultural community and support services, providing invaluable insights into the challenges and needs of Rajasthan’s farmers. Our analysis examines temporal trends in farmer query calls, revealing year-wise and month-to-month insights, including peak call activity periods. The district-wise analysis aids targeted interventions. Understanding call distribution across diverse landscapes. Categorising calls by crop and query type offers insights into distinct farmer challenges, informing tailored policies and support programs. In conclusion, this research underscores the paramount importance of harnessing data driven insights to enhance agricultural support systems in Rajasthan. By doing so, we can ensure the long-term sustainability and prosperity of the farming community, thus contributing to the overall well-being of the state’s agriculture sector. The research is useful for informing evidence-based policy decisions and tailored support services to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability in Rajasthan.

Borich’s Needs Model Analysis of Smallholder Farmers’ Competence in Irrigation Water Management: Case Study of Nkomazi Local Municipality, Mpumalanga Province in South Africa

Irrigated agriculture enables production intensification and crop diversification to improve food security. However, increasing irrigation water stress and inadequate competence of smallholder farmers in irrigation water management have the potential to exacerbate food insecurity. Therefore, this study seeks to determine smallholder farmers’ competency needs in irrigation water management practices (IWMP). A convenience sampling method was employed to obtain a sample population of n= 250. Descriptive statistics were employed to describe smallholder farmers’ demographic characteristics. Borich’s Needs Assessment Model (BNAM) was utilised to analyse smallholder farmers’ competency needs. Results revealed that smallholder farmers perceived weed control (M = 4.90) and understanding the consequences of over- and under-irrigation (M = 4.48) as highly important practices. Results also revealed that smallholder farmers were only highly competent in weed control (M = 4.59). Moreover, results revealed that the top two most important competency needs for smallholder farmers are knowledge of drought-tolerant cultivars (MWDS = 6.83) and irrigation scheduling (MWDS = 5.05). From the survey findings, smallholder farmers’ competency in IWMP is insufficient. It is recommended that the government, policymakers, and agricultural support services embark on sustainable agricultural development planning issues and develop a relevant training programme that is informed by smallholder farmers’ competency needs.

Interceding Role of Agricultural Extension Services in Adoption of Climate-Smart Agricultural Technologies in Northern Ghana

As a result of the effect of climate change on food security and rural livelihoods, the promotion and adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices have become very crucial. The role of agricultural extension in the adoption decision process is an important factor. However, extension delivery systems in most developing countries face numerous challenges that raise concerns about their ability to bring about the desired impact on farm households’ decisions. Relying on data from a cross-section of smallholder farmers in Ghana’s northern savanna area, specifically the Tolon district, the study assessed the determinants of farmers’ decision to adopt climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices as well as the intensity of adoption and the role agricultural extension plays in CSA adoption. Using a Poisson regression with endogenous treatment effects model to account for selectivity bias, the study observed that farmers adopt multiple CSA practices, with adoption being influenced by farmer group membership, size of herd and participation in off-farm work. Intensity of adoption, on the other hand, increased with access to agricultural extension, farm credit and input subsidy, but decreased with farm size and participation in off-farm work. Furthermore, an impact assessment indicated that participants in agricultural extension had 1.27 more adoption of CSA practices than they would if they had not participated in agricultural extension. The study concludes that there is a strong association between adoption intensity and access to agricultural support services such as extension, input subsidy and agricultural credit. The interceding role of extension in the adoption of CSA practices calls for more resources to be channeled towards extension service provision as a means to mitigate the effects of climate change and promote sustainable production at the farm level. The positive externalities from CSA adoption will go a long way to protect the environment, promote food security and rural livelihoods.

Poultry diseases diagnostics models using deep learning.

Coccidiosis, Salmonella, and Newcastle are the common poultry diseases that curtail poultry production if they are not detected early. In Tanzania, these diseases are not detected early due to limited access to agricultural support services by poultry farmers. Deep learning techniques have the potential for early diagnosis of these poultry diseases. In this study, a deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model was developed to diagnose poultry diseases by classifying healthy and unhealthy fecal images. Unhealthy fecal images may be symptomatic of Coccidiosis, Salmonella, and Newcastle diseases. We collected 1,255 laboratory-labeled fecal images and fecal samples used in Polymerase Chain Reaction diagnostics to annotate the laboratory-labeled fecal images. We took 6,812 poultry fecal photos using an Open Data Kit. Agricultural support experts annotated the farm-labeled fecal images. Then we used a baseline CNN model, VGG16, InceptionV3, MobileNetV2, and Xception models. We trained models using farm and laboratory-labeled fecal images and then fine-tuned them. The test set used farm-labeled images. The test accuracies results without fine-tuning were 83.06% for the baseline CNN, 85.85% for VGG16, 94.79% for InceptionV3, 87.46% for MobileNetV2, and 88.27% for Xception. Finetuning while freezing the batch normalization layer improved model accuracies, resulting in 95.01% for VGG16, 95.45% for InceptionV3, 98.02% for MobileNetV2, and 98.24% for Xception, with F1 scores for all classifiers above 75% in all four classes. Given the lighter weight of the trained MobileNetV2 and its better ability to generalize, we recommend deploying this model for the early detection of poultry diseases at the farm level.

Improving Agricultural Support Services for Smallholder Farmers’ Adaptation to Climate Variability in Rungwe District in Tanzania

Agriculture is the main source of livelihood in Tanzania. Agricultural development in Tanzania, however, has been constrained by climatic factors including climate variability and non-climatic challenges such as poverty, small size of land holdings, limited access to non-farm activities, poor access to and low use of improved seeds and fertilizers, limited access to financing for uptake of technology, global agricultural policies and diseases such as HIV/AIDS. In the era of climate change and variability, sustained and improved productivity occurs when smallholder farmers adapt to climate variability. Agricultural support services are important in bringing about resilience to the effects of climate variability. In this paper, strategies to improve the effectiveness of the whole service sector in the provision of agricultural support services are analysed basing on information derived from household socio-economic data, focus group discussions and key informants. It demonstrates that non-governmental organizations and private sectors are currently significant service providers in the provision of agricultural support services. The findings indicate that agricultural support services provided by the private sector though costly are by far more reliable compared to public sector. It is recommended that the government offers an enabling environment for the private sector in terms of assured economic stability, political stability and efficient markets so as to enhance the private sector towards provision of agricultural support services.

Household food security among Hadza hunter-gatherers in Mkalama district, Tanzania

BackgroundFood insecurity is a widespread public health concern in many communities of sub-Saharan Africa. This study involved the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania, the only ethnic group in the country that has traditionally subsisted on hunting and gathering. In recent years, however, these communities have adopted mixed foraging economies. Information on how this change affects household food security is rather limited. The aim of this study was to assess the status of food security and the factors influencing household food security in the Hadza hunter-gatherer communities.MethodsA cross-sectional study of 200 households was conducted in Mkalama district, Tanzania. Sampled householders represented individuals whose livelihood is mainly dependent on foraging (n = 129), beekeeping (n = 30) and farming (n = 41). Food security was measured by assessing food availability (Months of Adequate Food Provisioning (MAHFP)), food access (Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS)) and food utilization (Dietary Diversity Scores (DDS)).ResultsMean MAHFP was lower (p = 0.000) in predominantly foraging households (8.4 ± 1.1) compared with those involved in beekeeping (8.7 ± 1.6) or farming (9.6 ± 1.9). Based on HFIAS indicator, the prevalence of food insecurity varied with the household’s main activity (83.0% foraging, 46.7% beekeeping and 26.8% farming). Further, regression analyses show that the farming households were more likely to be food secure than the foraging households (OR = 10.7, p = 0.01). Dietary diversity scores also varied significantly with household’s main activity. About 65% of households (86% foraging, 63.3% beekeeping and 2.4% farming) consumed diets below the critical value of ≤ 4 food groups 24 h prior to survey. Social demographic characteristics and livelihood options are strong predictors of household food security.ConclusionAll indicators used to assess food security point to high level of food insecurity in households mainly subsisting on foraging compared with beekeeping and farming. The primary dependence on foraging is associated with a longer period of food shortage, high prevalence of food insecurity conditions and low consumption of food varieties. Livelihood diversification coupled with provision of agricultural support services is necessary for the development of a secure future of the Hadza communities.

Uzbekistan – A Region of World Society? Variants of Differentiation in Agricultural Resources Governance

AbstractThis article studies the layered coexistence and mutual shaping of three forms of differentiation (functional, segmentary, hierarchical) in rural Uzbekistan, a region of world society that, since 1991, is undergoing tremendous processes of socio-economic transformation and change. More precisely, we analyse the evolving governance of land, water and agricultural support services (knowledge & advice) in the Uzbek province of Khorezm, where currently three types of farms utilise various social practices to navigate a complex and partly opaque environment marked by various forms of differentiation, each posing different opportunities, threats and coordination mechanisms (institutions). In doing so, the article builds on Rudolf Stichweh’s considerations of world society’s structural patterns, its ‘Eigenstructures’ as well as Niklas Luhmann’s conceptualisation of world society’s autopoietically closed function systems. Based on ethnographic research, we argue that the mobilisation of patron-client relationships, a complex system of coercive reciprocity and a trilogy of formal, strategic and discursive practices are widely employed to cope with the coexistence of an undermined layer of functional differentiation and reaffirmed/reinvented segmentary and hierarchical identities. We argue that the skilful navigation by local actors between these different differentiation forms and their demands, embodies a short-term adaptation strategy that is likely to hamper a (re-)crystallisation of autonomous functional domains. Hampering functional differentiation jeopardises long-term change adaptation.

Why comply? Farmer motivations and barriers in cannabis agriculture

Cannabis legalization is spreading rapidly. In California, as the plant transitions from an illegal drug to agricultural product, regulations have been implemented to manage its production and associated environmental impacts. Yet, at the early stages of this process, many of the state's cannabis farmers continue to operate illicitly. This study examines why some cannabis farmers are engaging in the state's licensing initiative while others are not. Through an anonymous survey of cannabis farmers in California, we analyzed socio-normative and cost-related factors influencing farmers' decisions to participate in legal markets, or not. Approximately one third of the 362 cannabis farmers who completed the survey reported that they had never applied for a license. These non-compliant farmers were likely to be smaller cultivators who grew cannabis as part of a diversified livelihood strategy. Farmers' non-compliance was primarily attributed to an inability to overcome barriers to participation. These included not only financial barriers but also administrative and psychological ones, all of which disproportionately affect farmers with fewer resources. Socio-normative factors, including pressure from neighbors and perspectives on the benefits of environmental regulations, were not found to motivate non-compliance. As a result, policy efforts to mitigate the administrative burdens of compliance, such as streamlining permitting processes, extending agricultural support services, and supporting farmer collectives, warrant further attention to enhance compliance, public safety, environmental outcomes, and rural development in cannabis cultivating communities. Reforms to promote compliance, particularly among smaller farmers, may prevent the kinds of industrial consolidation seen in agricultural and in other governmental efforts to regulate informal resource use and trade.

The contribution of agriculture to household dietary diversity: evidence from smallholders in East Hararghe, Ethiopia

This study explores the impact of agriculture production on food consumption amongst rural households in Babille district, East Hararghe, Ethiopia. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to analyse information on production, consumption and income in two consecutive seasons. Diets in the area are dominated by cereals, while consumption of high-value foods such as meat, eggs, fruits, vitamin A-rich vegetables and dark green leafy vegetables was found to be extremely limited, indicating a risk of nutrient deficiencies. Food consumption was assessed in terms of dietary diversity and frequency of consumption, expressed in terms of the household Food Consumption Score (FCS). Important differences were found between households in the same area, and between pre-harvest and post-harvest seasons. Households with adequate food consumption tended to produce greater numbers of crops, own more livestock and earn more cash income compared to households in lower food consumption categories. Nutritionally important foods such as groundnut, eggs and fruit tend to be sold via local markets, and production of a particular food type was no guarantee that household would consume that food. Households depend heavily on the market to supplement their own food production, with most household expenditure going towards the purchase of cereals. Regression analysis indicated that food consumption is positively associated with agriculture output, but also with other factors such as size of landholding and farm income. The paper concludes with recommendations for improving the dietary outcomes for farm households in developing areas such as Babille, including a reconsideration of the balance between consumption and sale of agricultural outputs, and the need for more, and better targeted, agricultural support services.

Data Analytics System for Irrigation Alert, Fertilizer and Pesticide Recommendation towards Sustainable Agriculture

Ministry of statistics and program implementation says that, the agriculture sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased gradually from 54% in 1950- 51 to 15.4% in 2015-16. Farmers are suffering because of nonavailability of information and no proper guidance (advisory services). Farmers in rural areas are detached from technology and essential agricultural support services needed to carry out in farming activities and their productivity per acre is low due to lack of adopting recent mechanisms and technology usage. This paper presents a Data Analytics System for Irrigation Alert, Fertilizer and Pesticide Recommendation. The system is developed using modern digital technologies by bringing the necessary supporting elements in one place and to deliver necessary insights to farmers throughout crop cultivation to improve the farming actives. The proposed system includes 2 modules a) External Intelligence Module b) Data Analytics Module. In first module, data is gathered from farmer’s dataset, irrigation partners, pesticide vendors, fertilizer dataset. The second module will work on the grounds of output being “yes” of EIS, will generate alert regarding Irrigation, pesticides and Fertilizer Recommendation. The proposed system offers personalized advisory services using communication devices to maximize the crop yield and to minimize the cost of production.

Guided Analytics Platform for Southern region of Tamilnadu Farmer Fraternity

Agriculture has its role to play in our economy like any other sector but the unique role and importance is comparatively high than the other sectors. Most of the families who are farmers in our country live in rural areas and find themselves aloof from technological world. Essential agricultural support services needed to be carried out in farming activities are left unaware for them. Moreover, farmer’s income and productivity can be improved through extension and advisory services which would be of greater support. With the advent of technological resources that is suitable, cost effective, user friendly and scalable for the farmers certain farming activities can be improved. This paper intends to propose a data analytic platform using modern digital technology enabling effective collaboration among farmer fraternity and peripheral partners. The platform ensures of delivering enhanced insights to the agricultural community with essential guidance and tips to improve with on high crop yield; forecast and report right time for sowing and irrigation; corrective measures to be performed during pest attack so that the farmers enrich their agricultural activities with the support of efficient decision making system.

Impact of climate change on community health and resilience in Ethiopia: A review article.

Drought is a serious issue which might be caused by climate change that could create famine and health problems. Drought reduces air quality, increases fungal infestation, reduces people hand washing, affects mental health, leads to malnutrition by decreasing agricultural production, and increases diseases transmitted by insects. This study aimed to determine and describe community health status through building drought resilience in Ethiopia. This review was conducted based on the available peer-reviewed articles that were published from January 2004 to December 2018 Online databases from PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE and Google Scholar were searched for studies related to the building drought and community health resilience at different regions of Ethiopia that were published in English language. The search was made by using "Emergency disaster", "prevention", "preparedness", "response", "recovery", "drought", "food insecurity", "coping strategies" and "drought health policy" as keywords. Most of the reviewed articles deal with the impact of climate change on the human health in relation to food security. The associated factors of the impact of drought on food security is basically due to lack of irrigation and farmland, the scarcity of water due to the direct effect of drought, flood, severe soil erosion, livestock dispossession, family size of the household and literacy of the households. Various coping strategies were employed by the households to alleviate the high and continued food insecurity problem such as reducing the number and amount of meal, scrounging cash and grain, searching for off-farm and non-farm jobs, getting food aid, vending of livestock, and partake in food for work programs. The findings explored components of the coping strategies to the building resilience create fruitful health conditions for the food insecure household. The effect of agricultural support services as reliance's on drought and community health situation was regarded as a positive outcome. Moreover, the means to get adequate food security strategies in all regions of Ethiopia should be designed. Furthermore, future researches are recommended for finding the best building strategies for each region of Ethiopia.

Farmers involvement in farmer-based organization and perceived challenges: a case of Oshikoto region, Namibia

Farmer-based organisations (FBOs) are formed in the communal farming communities, mostly by Agricultural Support Services (ASS) providers with the aim that rural communities will become sustainable and manage their own community development activities. However, too often these FBOs do not receive sufficient support and training from the ASS providers and do not advance from being mere participants to being self-reliant as organisations so that they can make their own decisions as a group. This paper will analyse farmer participation and involvement in FBOs and the challenges faced by FBOs. Using a random sampling technique, data were collected from 150 farmers from six constituencies in the Oshikoto region. The findings showed that only 65 out of 150 respondents belonged to an FBO. There were slightly more female respondents (52.3%) than male respondents (47.7%). Most FBO respondents participated at the constituency level (64.6%), while 44.6% participated at the village level. Only 12.3% participated at the regional level, while none participated at the national level. Eighty per cent (80%) of the respondents indicated that their main objective for joining the FBO was to obtain technical skills. However, 83.1% of the FBOs experienced the problem of members not attending meetings and 78.5% indicated that members do not pay registration fees and annual fees. The researcher concluded that the FBOs in the Oshikoto region need continuous training in various courses such as group dynamics, communication skills, and soft skills to run their FBOs successfully

Filling in the Gap: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of Agricultural Change Agents in Northern Haiti

In order to better understand the lived experiences of change agents in the North Department of Haiti, a hermeneutical phenomenological study was conducted. Change agents must work against a variety of barriers in order to help influence change within their spheres of influence in rural Haiti. The change agent experience in this study is collaborative, mutually benefitting, deeply cultural, and built out of necessity. Change agents in this study have found that by working together, they are able to fill in the gaps left by unequal distributions of resources within their communities such as tools, money, advisory services, or even basic agricultural knowledge. Despite holes within the agricultural support services in their areas, the change agents have mobilized community members to work together to move their communities forward. Understanding the lived experiences of change agents will help inform ongoing and future agricultural development efforts in the North Department of Haiti.

Proposed framework to improve the coordination of and to strengthen agricultural support services linkages in the Oshikoto Region in Namibia

This study was part of a broader study that developed a framework for improving coordination in the provision of Agricultural Support Services (ASS) to farmers in the Oshikoto region, Namibia. This part of the study determined coordination linkages among various stakeholders of ASS in the region, and the study revealed weak linkages among ASS providers, although a significant eagerness for them to work together was identified and great emphasis was placed on collaborative work plans and budgeting that needs to be in place for them to work together. The input from the stakeholders on various ASS led to the suggested framework to improve the coordination of and to strengthen ASS linkages in the Oshikoto region. The suggested framework emphasises the importance of a bottom-up approach and that all ASS providers, as well as farmers, must be represented at all decentralised structures. It is essential for Agricultural Extension Specialists (AESs) to be represented at all the levels, as well as for Subject Matter Specialists (SMSs) to give constant advice to the headmen and councillors in the region. For this framework to be successful, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and professional bodies should be in place, as well as financial investment and continuous monitoring and evaluation (M & E). Keywords: Framework, Collaboration, Coordination, Agricultural Support Services, Linkages

Farm-level adaptation to climate change in Western Bangladesh: An analysis of adaptation dynamics, profitability and risks

Using long-term district-level climate data and a case study from a drought-prone village in western Bangladesh, this research explored trends in climate change, and analysed farmers’ adaptation dynamics, profitability and risks. This is the first study of its kind for drought-prone areas in Bangladesh.Farmers perceived climate changes included increases in temperature and decreases in rainfall which were as consistent with the trends of Chuadanga climate records. Farmers’ adaptation measures included changes in cropping systems, cropping calendars, crop varieties, agronomic practices, crop diversification and improved animal husbandry. Reducing environmental stress, ensuring self-sufficiency in staple crops (mainly rice) and other crop production practices, and enhancing economic viability of farm enterprises have underpinned these adaptations. Off-farm and non-farm wage employment, temporary migration, self-employment and educating children, constituted the core non-farm adaptation strategies.Emerging cropping systems like maize/cucumber and maize/stem amaranth/rice were economically more viable than the traditional rice/rice and rice/maize systems. Despite some uncertainties, farming was preferred to off-farm work, generating higher returns to labour for all cropping systems. Limited access to stress-tolerant varieties, extension services and affordable agricultural credit, combined with high production costs, variability in crop yields and output prices, are the main barriers to adaptation. Stronger agricultural research and support services, affordable credit, community-focussed farming education and training are critically important for effective adaptation to climate change.

Perception of and Adaptive Capacities to Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Their Effects on Rice Production: A Case of Pabna District, Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the most sensitive hotspot for climate change and climate-related extreme events which significantly affect agricultural production. As a result farmers’ try to minimize the adverse affects by various adaptation strategies. The aim of the study is thus, perception of and adaption capacities to climate change adaption strategies and their effects on rice production in a moderate level of drought severity and groundwater depletion but greater cropping diversity area (Pabna District). To find out the actual trend of climatic variables (e.g., temperature and rainfall) fourty two years of climate data on temperature and rainfall (1972-2013) from the Bangladesh Metrological Department (BMD) for Ishwardi weather station were collected and analyzed using non-parametric Mann-Kendall test. The adaptive capacities of rice farmers were estimated quantitatively and categorized into high, moderate and low adaptive capacities. Double logarithmic regression model of Cobb-Douglas production function was used to quantity the effects of adaptive capacities of farmers on rice production. The data was obtained by conducting direct collaboration with 200 rice growers of Pabna District in the periods of July, 2015. The results of Mann-Kendall test revealed that an increase in annual temperature of +0.014°C and decrease in annual rainfall -1.152 from 1972 to 2013 has been recorded for the Ishwardi station of Pabna District, Bangladesh which is similar with the farmers’ perceptions. Result of adaptive capacities revealed that on the average the farmers’ interviewed are moderately adaptive to climate change. The results of Cobb-Douglas production function identified that the degree of adaptive capacities, labour, use of fertilizer, farm size, education and extension contact have significant effects on rice production. It also indicates that the more a farmer has the ability to adjust to climate change strategies the more the rice output he or she obtain. Therefore, rice farmers should be empowered through better extension services for obtaining more rice output. Strengthening agricultural research and support services including information accessibility, education and training for improved crop culture practices, and expanded and efficient surface-water irrigation infrastructure are critically important for increasing the adaptive capacities of the farmers.

Determinants of Inefficiency in Vegetable Farms: Implications for Improving Rural Household Income in Nepal

Improving household income is a critical issue for rural sustainable economic development in the world, particularly in developing countries. Enhancing the productive efficiency of vegetable farms help to increase farmers’ income and that contribute to reduce rural poverty. This paper evaluates the productive efficiency and identifies the determinants of inefficiency in vegetable farms adopting stochastic translog production function using survey data. The results reveal that the vegetable farms are inefficient and have substantial potential to improve the efficiency levels with greater access to agricultural markets, higher levels of farmers’ education, and increased number of trainings to the farmers. In addition, women empowerment in vegetable farming with incentive packages consisting of agricultural support services and superior technologies would improve productivity and efficiency in vegetable production that increase household income of the farmers.