Farm Types and Their Economic Characterization in Complex Agro-Ecosystems for Informed Extension Intervention: Study from Coastal West Bengal, India

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. The present study conducted in coastal saline India demonstratively established the usefulness of such methodology in identification of predominant farm types and their characterization. Data collected from 144 farm households through questionnaire survey could identify four predominant farm types with differential income sources and resource-base. The methodological perspective employed in the study may be used as a decision support tool by extension agencies. On other hand, a differentiated, holistic and broad-based extension intervention with suitable institutional arrangement will be needed to address the need of these identified farm types. This will lead to a reduced transaction cost of the agricultural research and extension systems in diverse ecosystems in India and many similar situations in the developing countries. Terms of use: Documents in

Assessing smallholders’ heterogeneity towards sustainable agrifood value chain in developing countries

“…There is a growing body of literature on how farmers are diversifying to adopt sustainable practices. According to Goswami et al (2014), studying the farm typology of smallholders using socio-economic variables can be useful in offering precise and effective technological interventions. To understand the typology of smallholders in relation to sustainable production, most studies have focused on socio-economic elements such as age, education, experience (Tauro et al, 2018;Zhu and Chen, 2022), gender (Vanlauwe et al, 2019), and farm production system (Goswami et al, 2014;Habanabakize et al, 2022;Jin et al, 2017).…”

“…According to Goswami et al (2014), studying the farm typology of smallholders using socio-economic variables can be useful in offering precise and effective technological interventions. To understand the typology of smallholders in relation to sustainable production, most studies have focused on socio-economic elements such as age, education, experience (Tauro et al, 2018;Zhu and Chen, 2022), gender (Vanlauwe et al, 2019), and farm production system (Goswami et al, 2014;Habanabakize et al, 2022;Jin et al, 2017). Others have added smallholder agricultural systems of practice as an important element because it often varies due to agro-ecological factors (Mutyasira, 2020;Thar et al, 2021).…”

“…There is a growing body of literature on how farmers are diversifying to adopt sustainable practices. According to Goswami et al. (2014), studying the farm typology of smallholders using socio-economic variables can be useful in offering precise and effective technological interventions.…”

“…According to Wulandari et al (2022), it is mainly because generic recommendations are difficult for smallholders to apply in practice. Many recommendations often do not fit well with heterogeneous smallholder systems which require unique solutions (Goswami et al, 2014). Therefore, identifying the characteristics of farmers within their farm business is vital to see the socio-demography of the internal driver/ enabler related to sustainability (Hansson et al, 2019).…”

“…(2022), it is mainly because generic recommendations are difficult for smallholders to apply in practice. Many recommendations often do not fit well with heterogeneous smallholder systems which require unique solutions (Goswami et al. , 2014).…”