Climate-smart Technologies Research Articles

Role of Mobile Phone-enabled Climate Information Services in Gender-inclusive Agriculture

The mobile phone-enabled information delivery mechanism has the potential to reduce the knowledge gap between large and small farmers, and also across gender by creating awareness about new technologies and best practices. This article focuses on how access to information through the mobile phone makes women feel empowered if they are receptive to the information they receive. It also seeks to find out the type of information most valuable to women. This was done by analyzing the listening behavior of farmers, both men and women, to information provided by mobile phones. This study was undertaken in the selected villages in two states of India—Haryana and Bihar. The findings of the study show that information delivered through mobile phones under this pilot project contributed towards reducing information asymmetry among farmers, in general, and between women and men farmers. The listening rate of women farmers was equivalent to that of men farmers. Participating farmers reported that precise and timely weather-based agro-advisory messages helped them in taking informed decisions about input use, thus leading to savings on irrigation and reducing the cost of other inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers. Women farmers also said that agro-advisory messaging helped them make more efficient use of inputs by increasing their knowledge about climate-smart technologies.

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

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.

Perceptions of Climate Change and Adaptation of Climate-Smart Technology by the Paddy Farmers: A Case Study of Kandy District in Sri Lanka

Perceptions of Climate Change and Adaptation of Climate-Smart Technology by the Paddy Farmers: A Case Study of Kandy District in Sri Lanka

Perceptions of Climate Change and Adaptation of Climate-Smart Technology by the Paddy Farmers: A Case Study of Kandy District in Sri Lanka

Perceptions of Climate Change and Adaptation of Climate-Smart Technology by the Paddy Farmers: A Case Study of Kandy District in Sri Lanka