What does benchmarking of wheat farmers practicing conservation tillage in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains tell us about energy use efficiency? An application of slack-based data envelopment analysis

Aravindakshan, Sreejith; Rossi, Frederick J.; Krupnik, Timothy J.

doi:10.1016/j.energy.2015.07.088

Cited by 35 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Yield gaps however remain common in the IGP, ranging from 14 to 47%, 18–70%, and 36–77% for wheat, rice, and maize, respectively. These gaps widen in the eastern IGP, broadly correlating with the region's increased poverty, farmers' low investment capability and aversion to risk, and increasing in energy and input costs, in addition to climactic variability ( Aravindakshan et al, 2015 , Jat et al, 2016 ). Pulses, oilseeds, and mixed crop-livestock systems are also common, as is farmer engagement in seasonal and semi-permanent migration and off-farm labor ( Erenstein and Thorpe, 2011 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate smart agriculture, farm household typologies and food security

López-Ridaura

Frelat

Wijk

et al. 2018

Agricultural Systems

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119

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One of the great challenges in agricultural development and sustainable intensification is the assurance of social equity in food security oriented interventions. Development practitioners, researchers, and policy makers alike could benefit from prior insight into what interventions or environmental shocks might differentially affect farmers' food security status, in order to move towards more informed and equitable development. We examined the food security status and livelihood activities of 269 smallholder farm households (HHs) in Bihar, India. Proceeding with a four-step analysis, we first applied a multivariate statistical methodology to differentiate five primary farming system types. We next applied an indicator of food security in the form of HH potential food availability (PFA), and examined the contribution of crop, livestock, and on- and off-farm income generation to PFA within each farm HH type. Lastly, we applied scenario analysis to examine the potential impact of the adoption of ‘climate smart’ agricultural (CSA) practices in the form of conservation agriculture (CA) and improved livestock husbandry, and environmental shocks on HH PFA. Our results indicate that compared to livestock interventions, CA may hold considerable potential to boost HH PFA, though primarily for wealthier and medium-scale cereal farmers. These farm HH types were however considerably more vulnerable to food insecurity risks resulting from simulated drought, while part-time farmers and resource-poor agricultural laborers generating income from off-farm pursuits were comparatively less vulnerable, due in part to their more diversified income sources and potential to migrate in search of work. Our results underscore the importance of prior planning for development initiatives aimed at increasing smallholder food security while maintaining social equity, while providing a robust methodology to vet the implications of agricultural interventions on an ex ante basis.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate smart agriculture, farm household typologies and food security

López-Ridaura

Frelat

Wijk

et al. 2018

Agricultural Systems

Self Cite

119

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“…Cost-savings therefore provide a major driver for CT adoption (Krishna and Veettil 2014). CT examples include zero-and strip-tillage, often with residues retained as mulch, machine-operated shallow-till seeding, and crop establishment on minimally tilled but raised beds reported to increase irrigation use efficiency (Aravindakshan et al 2015;Gathala et al 2016), an issue of importance given increasing water pumping costs in Bangladesh (Qureshi et al 2015). These approaches share similarities with conservation agriculture (CA) that aims to consistently reduce or eliminate tillage (Gathala et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of a bias-corrected meta-frontier approach and an endogenous switching regression to analyze the technical efficiency of conservation tillage for wheat in South Asia

et al. 2018

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Conservation tillage (CT) options are among the most rapidly spreading land preparation and crop establishment techniques globally. In South Asia, CT has spread dramatically over the last decade, a result of strong policy support and increasing availability of appropriate machinery. Although many studies have analyzed the yield and profitability of CT systems, the technical efficiency impacts accrued by farmers utilizing CT have received considerably less attention. Employing a DEA framework, we isolated bias-corrected meta-frontier technical efficiencies and meta-technology ratios of three CT options adopted by wheat farmers in Bangladesh, including bed planting (BP), power tiller operated seeding (PTOS), and strip tillage (ST), compared to a control group of farmers practicing traditional tillage (TT). Endogenous switching regression was subsequently employed to overcome potential self-selection bias in the choice of CT, in order to robustly estimate efficiency factors. Among the tillage options studied, PTOS was the most technically efficient, with an average meta-technology ratio of 0.90, followed by BP (0.88), ST (0.83), and TT (0.67). The average predicted meta-frontier technical efficiency for the CT non-adopters under a counterfactual scenario (0.80) was significantly greater (P = 0.00) than current TE scores (0.65), indicating the potential for sizeable profitability increases with CT adoption. Conversely, the counterfactual TE of nonadopters was 23% greater than their DEA efficiency, also indicating efficiency gains from CT adoption. Our results provide backing for agricultural development programs in South Asia that aim to increase smallholder farmers' income through the application of CT as a pathway towards poverty reduction.

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“…Potential strategies to tackle these challenges could be mechanized farming and the use of conservation agriculture (CA) [4,5]. Conservation agriculture utilizes three basic principles -no or reduced tillage, permanent ground cover and judicious crop rotation [6,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Zero or reduced tillage with residue retention can improve soil physical, chemical and biological properties [10,1,4], facilitate timely planting, and decrease production costs related to labor, fuel and machinery. The use of drill seeders and reduced tillage can also reduce drudgery and sustain profit [1,4,5]. In the Eastern Gangetic Plain (EGP), [11] reported an average wheat yield gain of 19% with zero tillage without residue retention in large number of farmers' fields.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tillage and Residue Management Effects on Productivity, Profitability and Soil Properties of a Rice-Maize-Mungbean System in Bangladesh

Rashid¹,

Timsina²,

Islam³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Farmers’ conventional tillage (CT) and residue removal practices in rice-maize systems in South Asia’s Eastern Gangetic Plain (EGP) are input-intensive, costly and soil degradative. We conducted a rice-maize-mungbean (R-M-MB) system experiment with six tillage and three residue management treatments in Bangladesh representing the EGP. Maize yields were significantly (p≤0.05) higher under permanent (PB) or fresh (FB) beds and strip tillage (ST) than CT but no differences in mungbean yields. Rice yields under PB, FB and CT were similar, but significantly higher than under zero or minimum tillage and ST. Yields of all crops increased significantly (p≤0.05) with residue retention compared to no retention. Total system productivity was highest under PB followed by FB and ST. Compared with CT, gross margins in PB, FB and ST increased by 18, 13 and 11%, and soil organic matter (SOM) and total N contents across tillage treatments increased by 11-16% and 12-24%, respectively. After three years, SOM and total N and available P and S contents increased significantly (p≤0.05) by residue retention. Results demonstrate the potential of PB, FB and ST with residue retention, for improving the productivity, profitability and soil health under R-M-MB systems in Bangladesh and similar soils in the EGP.

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What does benchmarking of wheat farmers practicing conservation tillage in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains tell us about energy use efficiency? An application of slack-based data envelopment analysis

Cited by 35 publications

References 31 publications

Climate smart agriculture, farm household typologies and food security

Climate smart agriculture, farm household typologies and food security

Application of a bias-corrected meta-frontier approach and an endogenous switching regression to analyze the technical efficiency of conservation tillage for wheat in South Asia

Tillage and Residue Management Effects on Productivity, Profitability and Soil Properties of a Rice-Maize-Mungbean System in Bangladesh

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