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Zero-tillage wheat provides stable yield and economic benefits under diverse growing season climates in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains
International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability ( IF 3.4 ) Pub Date : 2020-07-21 , DOI: 10.1080/14735903.2020.1794490
Alwin Keil 1 , Archisman Mitra 2 , Andrew McDonald 3 , Ram Kanwar Malik 1
Affiliation  

ABSTRACT Sustainably enhancing wheat productivity in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) is vital for ensuring future food security. While in controlled field trials zero-tillage (ZT) wheat has demonstrated considerable yield benefits, empirical assessments of the performance stability of the practice in farmers’ fields under varying climatic conditions are lacking. Given progressive climate change, this constitutes an important knowledge gap which we address with a unique panel dataset from 961 farm households in Bihar, India, spanning two favourable and two less favourable growing seasons. We employ an endogenous switching regression (ESR) framework to derive unbiased estimates of the expected impacts of ZT on wheat yields and production costs among the farming population (average treatment effect, ATE). The prevailing ZT practices led to significant yield gains in three out of the four years, notably in the less favourable seasons. Overall, the estimated yield ATE was 660 kg ha−1. More importantly from the farmers’ perspective, ZT led to significant cost savings in all four seasons, commensurate to a 5% increase in average total household incomes. We conclude that ZT for wheat in Bihar provides tangible and consistent benefits to farmers. Policy-makers in Bihar and adjacent states should continue to strongly support its adoption at scale.

中文翻译:

零耕小麦在东部印度恒河平原的不同生长季节气候下提供稳定的产量和经济效益

摘要 可持续地提高印度-恒河平原 (IGP) 的小麦生产力对于确保未来的粮食安全至关重要。虽然在受控田间试验中,零耕 (ZT) 小麦已显示出可观的产量效益,但缺乏对不同气候条件下农民田间实践性能稳定性的实证评估。鉴于渐进的气候变化,这构成了一个重要的知识差距,我们通过来自印度比哈尔邦 961 个农户的独特面板数据集来解决该问题,跨越两个有利和两个不利的生长季节。我们采用内生转换回归 (ESR) 框架对 ZT 对农业人口中小麦产量和生产成本的预期影响(平均处理效应,ATE)进行无偏估计。在四年中的三年中,盛行的 ZT 做法使产量显着增加,尤其是在不太有利的季节。总体而言,估计的 ATE 产量为 660 kg ha-1。更重要的是,从农民的角度来看,ZT 在所有四个季节都显着节省了成本,相当于家庭总收入增加了 5%。我们得出的结论是,比哈尔邦小麦的 ZT 为农民提供了切实和持续的利益。比哈尔邦和邻近邦的政策制定者应继续大力支持其大规模采用。我们得出的结论是,比哈尔邦小麦的 ZT 为农民提供了切实和持续的利益。比哈尔邦和邻近邦的政策制定者应继续大力支持其大规模采用。我们得出的结论是,比哈尔邦小麦的 ZT 为农民提供了切实和持续的利益。比哈尔邦和邻近邦的政策制定者应继续大力支持其大规模采用。
更新日期:2020-07-21
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