Adoption of leaf color chart for nitrogen use efficiency in rice: Impact assessment of a farmer-participatory experiment in West Bengal,India

Unbalanced and excessive use of N-fertilizers causes environmental pollution, lodging of plants and increased pest pressure, in addition to increased cost to farmers from excessively applied fertilizers and pesticides. N application at the right time and in right amount is critical for healthy plant and environment. Rice leaf color intensity is directly related to leaf chlorophyll content and leaf nitrogen status. The concept for the use of leaf color as an indicator to apply N in rice was crystallized during 1990s. The International Rice Research Institute and the Philippine Rice Research Institute developed a leaf color chart (LCC) that helps guide farmers for real-time nitrogen management in rice farming. The technology is inexpensive, and easily affordable by most resource poor rice farmers. In 2003 we initiated a farmer-participatory research to validate real-time N management in rice by the use of LCC in West Bengal state of India. After 3 years of validation research, a survey was conducted to assess the adoption and impact of LCC. The survey was conducted in both intervention and adjacent control villages and data were collected from 20% farm households selected randomly. In this paper, we report findings of the study on the determinants of adoption of LCC, and its effect on fertilizer and pesticides use.     

Impact of climate-smart agricultural technology on multidimensional poverty in rural Ethiopia

A large body of empirical literature showed that the adoption of agricultural technologies reduces poverty. However, dominants of those studies so far used one-dimensional income or expenditure-based measures of poverty which may not reflect other types of deprivations. Therefore, the major objective of this study is to examine the impact of adopting climate-smart agricultural technology, which refers to a joint application of row planting methods and the use of chemical fertilizers, on the multidimensional poverty status of rural households in Ethiopia. To estimate the impact of the stated technologies, this study employs propensity score matching and endogenous switching regression methods. To measure the multidimensional poverty index, the study also uses the Alkire and Foster counting approach. Using the Ethiopian Socioeconomic Survey(ESS), collected in 2015-Wave 3, the results of the study show that the adoption of these technologies reduces deprivation score and one of its component, the standard of living part. Regionally, a high reduction in deprivation is observed in Amhara and Oromiya regions. The results also show that the impact is significantly higher in severely deprived households. It is also observed that the reduction in multidimensional poverty due to the technology is through an increase in income/consumption via improvement in production gain. The impact channels more through the non-food expenditure pathway. Finally, this study also sheds light on the effects that technology adoption has on multidimensional poverty reduction.     

The impact of farmers’ assessments of risk management strategies on their adoption willingness

Farmers’ assessments of risk management strategies and how the assessments influence their willingness to adopt these strategies are poorly understood. This study conducts a structured survey of 469 farmers to investigate how farmers assess both crop insurance and crop price insurance, the impact of the assessments on their adoption willingness, and in particular, the differences in assessments and adoption willingness between crop insurance and crop price insurance. Empirical results show that farmers’ assessments on crop insurance can be significantly improved through communication and experience. The most effective way to improve farmers’ assessments on crop price insurance is providing adequate information about the insurance products. Furthermore, farmers’ adoption willingness would be enhanced by improved assessment of both crop yield and crop price insurance. This study provides the first empirical evidence that farmers have limited information to assess insurance, which significantly influences their willingness to adopt. This finding reflects that the dissemination of insurance policies, the effectiveness of insurance, and the availability of insurance services significantly enable farmers’ ability to assess risk management strategies, which potentially increases farmers’ willingness to adopt insurance.     

Adoption of small-scale irrigation technologies and its impact on land productivity: Evidence from Rwanda

In an attempt to identify solutions to the effects of erratic rainfall patterns and droughts that limit agricultural production growth, the Rwandan government has recently increased investments in irrigation development. In this study, we analyze the adoption of small-scale irrigation technologies (SSITs) and its impact on land productivity using cross-sectional data from a sample of 360 farmers in Rwanda. The study uses the propensity score matching technique to address potential self-selection bias. Our results reveal that adoption decisions are significantly influenced by factors such as education, farm size, group membership, gender, extension services, access to credit, access to weather forecast information, risk perceptions, access to a reliable source of water for irrigation, awareness of rainwater harvesting techniques, and awareness of subsidy programs. In addition, the results show that the adoption of SSITs has a significantly positive impact on land productivity. The study concludes with policy implications that highlight the need to promote the adoption of SSITs among farmers as a strategy to improve agricultural productivity and food security in Rwanda.     

The role and value of eastern star clover in managing herbicide-resistant crop weeds: A whole-farm analysis

In the broadacre dryland farming system of Western Australia herbicide resistance in major crop weeds is an increasingly serious problem. A new option to combat herbicide resistance involves growing eastern star clover (Trifolium dasyurum). This is a new pasture legume with a unique delayed germination that allows control of weeds using various chemical and non-chemical strategies, without unduly compromising the pasture’s subsequent production. This study assesses the role and value of eastern star clover in managing herbicide-resistant weeds on various farms. The study employs the farming system model known as MIDAS, a whole-farm, bioeconomic model. Key scenarios of different degrees of severity of herbicide resistance for three farm types are examined. The main findings of the analysis are that as the severity of herbicide resistance increases, eastern star clover becomes an increasingly attractive option. Although the introduction of eastern star clover does reduce a farm’s capacity to carry sheep, and thereby lessens profits generated by the sheep enterprise, it enables longer, more profitable sequences of crops to be grown with fewer weed problems. Sensitivity analysis suggests that reduced cost of eastern star clover seed, cheap supplementary feed, and higher grain prices will further increase the profitability of eastern star clover.     

Adoption decision and use intensity of soil and water conservation measures by smallholder subsistence farmers in Dedo District,Western Ethiopia

Soil degradation in the highlands of Ethiopia is a serious problem that threatens the sustainability of agriculture. Although efforts have been made to develop and promote several soil conservation technologies, their adoption has not been widespread. This study, based on responses from a sample of 101 households which operate on 204 plots in Western Ethiopia, interviewed in 2003 cropping year, employed a Tobit model to identify the main factors influencing farmers' decision to adopt and intensify the use of improved and indigenous soil and water conservation (SWC) measures. The results suggest that area of cultivated land, land/labour ratio, age and education level of household head and distance of the plot from home and slope of the plot provided statistically adequate predictive power on the use and intensity of SWC measures. These results are discussed and their implications for conservation programs are presented in the conclusion. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The theory of social forestry intervention: the state of the art in Asia

This study focuses on the major issues in current thinking about the theory of social forestry development in Asia. The first of these issues concerns the cause of deforestation. The governmental view is that deforestation is a gradual process driven by community-based factors, whereas the community view is that deforestation is a stochastic process driven by external, political-economic factors. The two explanations have different implications for where the problematique of social forestry is located — in the forest community or in the forest agency — and how, therefore, it is to be addressed.A second issue concerns how and when social forestry interventions are carried out. The concept of a window-of-opportunity for intervention reflects a widespread belief that it is importantwhen interventions are carried out — with both the costs and benefits of intervention increasing as it is timed earlier and decreasing as it is timed later. A key determinant of the best time for intervention is the receptivity of the forest agency and the broader society. The purpose of intervention is to strengthen receptivity and other factors conducive to change, to hasten extant processes of change, and to minimize the possibility of a reversal of direction.A third issue is whether the focus of social forestry intervention should be on state lands or on community lands. While there are logical reasons for either foci, the continuing vacillation between them suggests the lack of a theoretical perspective with sufficient breadth to encompass them both. Whatever the focus, attitudinal change within the forest agency is usually mandated in social forestry interventions, but it is rarely accompanied with intervention in the underlying power relations, reflecting a continuing difficulty in viewing the forest agency sociologically. This lack of sociological perspective also is seen in the tendency to focus on adding resources perceived to be in short supply, instead of removing institutional obstacles —including those within the forest agency — to the proper use of existing resources.The final issue involves the unintended consequences of social forestry intervention. These include redirection of the intervention as a result of bureaucratic resistance or negative feedback, and secondary consequences stemming from the dynamic responses by forests, forest communities, and forest agencies to changes in their relationship.     

北京郊区农技推广情况分析及展望

农业推广是农业科技进步过程中一个不可缺失的重要环节.为了实现北京郊区农业可持续发展,拓展都市型农业功能,科技推广工作将成为重中之重.通过调研大兴、密云、顺义3个区县的农技推广工作,较为全面地描述了北京郊区农技推广的现状,揭示了存在的问题,并对未来发展前景进行了展望.     

闽南农村妇女科技采纳行为影响因素的实证分析

基于对闽南厦门、漳州、泉州三地市农村妇女的实地调查，采用DPS数学统计软件对影响农村妇女参与、采用农业技术推广行为、意愿的因素进行了多元回归分析，并建立了多元回归方程，得出各特征变量的影响值，并针对农村妇女采用农业新技术所出现的问题，提出了相应的对策和建议。