Contextual realities and poverty traps: Why South Asian smallholder farmers negatively evaluate conservation agriculture

Pragya Timsina Emma Karki Brendan Brown (2023, [Artículo])

Conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification (CASI) is gaining prominence as an agricultural pathway to poverty reduction and enhancement of sustainable food systems among government and development actors in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of South Asia. Despite substantial investment in research and extension programs and a growing understanding of the agronomic, economic and labor-saving benefits of CASI, uptake remains limited. This study explores farmer experiences and perspectives to establish why farmers choose not to implement CASI systems despite a strong body of recent scientific evidence establishing the benefits of them doing so. Through thematic coding of semi-structured interviews, key constraints are identified, which establishes a narrative that current households' resources are insufficient to enable practice change, alongside limited supporting structures for resource supplementation. Such issues create a dependency on subsidies and outside support, a situation that is likely to impact any farming system change given the low-risk profiles of farmers and their limited resource base. This paper hence sets out broad implications for creating change in smallholder farming systems in order to promote the adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies in resource-poor smallholder contexts, especially with regard to breaking the profound poverty cycles that smallholder farmers find themselves in and which are unlikely to be broken by the current set of technologies promoted to them.

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE POVERTY TRAPS

Dynamics of Maize Consumption and its Implication in Maize Technology Demand in Nepal

Shriniwas Gautam Dyutiman Choudhary (2018, [Capítulo de libro])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA MAIZE TECHNOLOGY VARIETIES

Distance learning for farmers: Experience during the pandemic

Andrea Gardeazabal (2023, [Documento de trabajo])

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic's disruption of farmer training—a crucial component for enhancing the resilience and livelihoods of smallholder farmers—CIMMYT innovated educational solutions to sustain capacity building in agri-food systems. Addressing the challenges of limited mobile device access, poor internet connectivity, and digital illiteracy, CIMMYT implemented two pilot projects in Mexico. These projects facilitated distance learning for adult farmers in rural areas, employing both internet-based and non-internet methods. The non-internet approach utilized traditional media like print, while the internet-based approach leveraged WhatsApp for educational content delivery. Building on these experiences, CIMMYT expanded its offerings by creating micro -courses delivered through WhatsApp, hosted on the Co-LAB's new Learning Network platform, specifically targeting farmers. This paper delves into the various strategies, methods, and techniques adopted, documenting the learning outcomes, results, and key conclusions drawn from these innovative training initiatives.

Distance Learning Digital Inclusion Innovative Training CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA DISTANCE EDUCATION CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT METHODS COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Sustainable maize intensification through site-specific nutrient management advice: Experimental evidence from Nigeria

Miet Maertens Oyakhilomen Oyinbo Tahirou Abdoulaye Jordan Chamberlin (2023, [Artículo])

There is growing evidence on the impacts of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) from Asia. The evidence for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where SSNM developments are more recent and where conditions concerning soil fertility and fertilizer use differ importantly from those in Asia, is extremely scarce. We evaluate a SSNM advisory tool that allows extension agents to generate fertilizer recommendations tailored to the specific situation of an individual farmer’s field, using a three-year randomized controlled trial with 792 smallholder farmers in the maize belt of northern Nigeria. Two treatment arms were implemented: T1 and T2 both provide SSNM information on nutrient use and management, but T2 provides additional information on maize price distributions and the associated variability of expected returns to fertilizer use. We estimate average and heterogenous intent-to-treat effects on agronomic, economic and environmental plot-level outcomes. We find that T1 and T2 lead to substantial increases (up to 116%) in the adoption of good fertilizer management practices and T2 leads to incremental increases (up to 18%) in nutrient application rates, yields and revenues. Both treatments improve low levels of nutrient use efficiency and reduce high levels of greenhouse gas emission intensity, after two years of treatment. Our findings underscore the possibility of a more gradual and sustainable intensification of smallholder agriculture in SSA, as compared with the Asian Green Revolution, through increased fertilizer use accompanied by improved fertilizer management.

Randomized Controlled Trial CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION GREEN REVOLUTION FERTILIZERS GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Farmers’ perspectives as determinants for adoption of conservation agriculture practices in Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

Ajay Kumar Mishra ML JAT (2022, [Artículo])

Understanding the farmer's perspective has traditionally been critical to influencing the adoption and out-scaling of CA-based climate-resilient practices. The objective of this study was to investigate the biophysical, socio-economic, and technical constraints in the adoption of CA by farmers in the Western- and Eastern-IGP, i.e., Karnal, Haryana, and Samastipur, Bihar, respectively. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was administered to 50 households practicing CA in Western- and Eastern-IGP. Smallholder farmers (<2 ha of landholding) in Karnal are 10% and Samastipur 66%. About 46% and 8% of households test soil periodically in Karnal and Samastipur, respectively. Results of PCA suggest economic profitability and soil health as core components from the farmer's motivational perspective in Karnal and Samastipur, respectively. Promotion and scaling up of CA technologies should be targeted per site-specific requirements, emphasizing biophysical resource availability, socio-economic constraints, and future impacts of such technology.

Smallholder Farmers Agents of Change Technology Diffusion Climate-Smart Practices CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SMALLHOLDERS SOCIAL STRUCTURE IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE

Economics of crop residue management

Vijesh Krishna Maxwell Mkondiwa (2023, [Artículo])

More than five billion metric tons of agricultural residues are produced annually worldwide. Despite having multiple uses and significant potential to augment crop and livestock production, a large share of crop residues is burned, especially in Asian countries. This unsustainable practice causes tremendous air pollution and health hazards while restricting soil nutrient recycling. In this review, we examine the economic rationale for unsustainable residue management. The sustainability of residue utilization is determined by several economic factors, such as local demand for and quantity of residue production, development and dissemination of technologies to absorb excess residue, and market and policy instruments to internalize the social costs of residue burning. The intervention strategy to ensure sustainable residue management depends on public awareness of the private and societal costs of open residue burning.

Crop Biomass Residue Burning Environmental Effects CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CROPS BIOMASS RESIDUES ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT CLIMATE CHANGE SMALLHOLDERS TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION

Implementation new tools and technologies in the GMP Africa Breeding Pipelines

Yoseph Beyene (2023, [Objeto de congreso])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA NEW TECHNOLOGY BREEDING PIPES GERMPLASM PHENOTYPING

Teacher training in the state of Chihuahua: Between the health challenge and teacher resilience

Evangelina Cervantes Holguín Pavel Roel Gutiérrez Sandoval Cely Celene Ronquillo Chávez (2023, [Artículo, Artículo])

The article proposes to recover the response of the Teacher Training and Updating Institutions in the state of Chihuahua regarding the various challenges imposed by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). The qualitative exercise analyzes the experience of 10 institutions based on the voice of their students, teachers, and principals regarding changes in academic, administrative, and organizational processes. It is concluded that the pandemic has affected each institution in different ways and with diverse intensity. Despite the achievements, the experience analyzed reveals the relative success of the using virtual platforms in the face of three basic conditions: connectivity, technological competencies, and socio-emotional skills of the teaching staff. It highlights the importance of implementing tutoring, resilience, or awareness actions of teachers and students' needs, feelings, and sufferings. It is opportune to recover the experiences of other institutions and to question especially students, thesis students and graduates.

Acceso a la educación Aprendizaje en línea Educación a distancia Formación de docentes Tecnología educacional HUMANIDADES Y CIENCIAS DE LA CONDUCTA HUMANIDADES Y CIENCIAS DE LA CONDUCTA Access to education online learning distance education teacher education educational technology

The generation challenge programme platform: Semantic standards and workbench for crop science

Richard Bruskiewich Guy Davenport Mathieu Rouard Reinhard Simon Samart Wanchana Trushar Shah Victor Jun Ulat Andrew Farmer Pankaj Jaiswal Mark Wilkinson David Marshall Alyssa Collins (2008, [Artículo])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CROP IMPROVEMENT GENETIC RESOURCES PLANT BREEDING BIODIVERSITY COMPUTER APPLICATIONS DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY DATA PROCESSING

Risk aversion, impatience, and adoption of conservation agriculture practices among smallholders in Zambia

Hambulo Ngoma João Vasco Silva Frédéric Baudron Isaiah Nyagumbo Christian Thierfelder (2024, [Artículo])

Sustainable agricultural practices such as conservation agriculture have been promoted in southern Africa for nearly three decades, but their adoption remains low. It is of policy interest to unpack behavioural drivers of adoption to understand why adoption remains lower than anticipated. This paper assesses the effects of risk aversion and impatience on the extent and intensity of the adoption of conservation agriculture using panel data collected from 646 households in 2021 and 2022 in Zambia. We find that 12% and 18% of the smallholders were impatient and risk averse, respectively. There are two main empirical findings based on panel data Probit and Tobit models. First, on the extensive margin, being impatient is correlated with a decreased likelihood of adopting combined minimum-tillage (MT) and rotation by 2.9 percentage points and being risk averse is associated with a decreased propensity of adopting combined minimum tillage (MT) and mulching by 3.2 percentage points. Being risk averse is correlated with a decreased chance of adopting basins by 2.8 percentage points. Second, on the intensive margin, impatience and risk aversion are significantly correlated with reduced adoption intensity of basins, ripping, minimum tillage (MT), and combined MT and rotation by 0.02–0.22 ha. These findings imply a need to embed risk management (e.g., through crop yield insurance) in the scaling of sustainable agricultural practices to incentivise adoption. This can help to nudge initial adoption and to protect farmers from yield penalties that are common in experimentation stages.

Risk and Time Preferences CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION RISK SUSTAINABLE INTENSIFICATION SMALLHOLDERS