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Imbalanced application of fertilizers is a major fiscal and environmental problem in South Asia. We review fertilizer policies and extension efforts to promote the balanced application of nutrients in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and draw 4 important lessons. (1) Fertilizer sector reforms need to be fiscally sustainable and politically feasible. Governments in South Asia have abolished fertilizer subsidies on multiple occasions, only to restore them a few years later. (2) The use of phosphate and potash did not decline much even after a sharp increase in their prices in India in 2011–12. Therefore, rationalizing subsidies, while necessary, may not be sufficient to ensure balanced use of fertilizers. Changing farmers' practice requires combining the right incentives with the right information. (3) Soil test based soil health cards (SHC) hold promise, but there is limited evidence on their utility. India's SHC program had very little impact on fertilizer use. (4) Direct cash transfer (DCT) of fertilizer subsidies can reduce distortions, but Sri Lanka's experience shows that implementing it is more challenging than universal subsidies. DCT requires the removal of price controls, integration of land records farmer identity cards, a cash transfer system with universal coverage, and a competitive fertilizer retail sector. ; IFPRI3; ISI; CSISA; CRP2; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance ; SAR; EPTD; PIM ; PR ; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

Imbalanced application of fertilizers is a major fiscal and environmental problem in South Asia. We review fertilizer policies and extension efforts to promote the balanced application of nutrients in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and draw 4 important lessons. (1) Fertilizer sector reforms need to be fiscally sustainable and politically feasible. Governments in South Asia have abolished fertilizer subsidies on multiple occasions, only to restore them a few years later. (2) The use of phosphate and potash did not decline much even after a sharp increase in their prices in India in 2011–12. Therefore, rationalizing subsidies, while necessary, may not be sufficient to ensure balanced use of fertilizers. Changing farmers' practice requires combining the right incentives with the right information. (3) Soil test based soil health cards (SHC) hold promise, but there is limited evidence on their utility. India's SHC program had very little impact on fertilizer use. (4) Direct cash transfer (DCT) of fertilizer subsidies can reduce distortions, but Sri Lanka's experience shows that implementing it is more challenging than universal subsidies. DCT requires the removal of price controls, integration of land records, farmer identity cards, a cash transfer system with universal coverage, and a competitive fertilizer retail sector.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is collaborating with meteorological and agricultural institutions in the Hindu Kush Himalaya through its SERVIR Hindu Kush Himalaya (SERVIR-HKH) and the Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) initiatives to establish agricultural drought monitoring and early warning systems. The aim is to improve the capacity of national agro-meteorology and agricultural agencies to develop data products related to crop monitoring and enhance the knowledge of national scientists about the interpretation of agro-climatic data in their country contexts. Similarly, the SERVIR-Mekong initiative, hosted by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), is establishing a regional drought and crop yield information system for the Mekong region in Southeast Asia. The system will assist local governments and the agricultural sector with drought forecasting and implementing short- and longterm mitigation measures during and before droughts. In the three days deliberations, the forum reviewed current status and needs for sustained information services at regional and national levels in the aforementioned areas. The participants at the forum also discussed ways to establish a regional partnership with participation of national and regional institutions, private sector, local and international organizations to improve climate services using Earth Observation and facilitate agricultural decision making to help with food security in the region.

The integration of smallholder farmers into emerging value chains for fine-grain and aromatic 'premium quality rice' (PQR) could prove to be crucial to improving rural livelihoods in Bangladesh, though efforts could be constrained by farmers' differing levels of agronomic knowledge. Based on a pre-analysis plan, we analyse farmers' ability to efficiently allocate production enhancing inputs in PQR cultivation based on a survey of 1420 farmers in key PQR producing areas. Farmers received a hypothetical budget to allocate to six different inputs advised for efficient production of PQR, mimicking familiar production decisions made seasonally on their own farms. Our results suggest that even without budget or input access constraints farmers tend to inefficiently allocate inputs in PQR in this hypothetical setting. In particular, they tend to overspend on seeds, fertiliser and pesticides. Farmers with better access to agricultural information, such as through PQR specific extension services, conversely reach substantially higher efficiency scores and decided to spend significantly less on fertiliser. Without future adjustments such as more targeted extension services, implied higher production costs will likely lower the profitability of PQR cultivation for smallholder farmers, thereby limiting potential income gains. Besides these economic concerns, excessive input use is associated with environmental externalities. Improved efficiency is therefore desirable from both an economic and environmental standpoint.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) jointly organized a workshop with International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) with supported by Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) on "Scaling Climate-Smart Agriculture in Bangladesh: Practices, Policies and Institutions" on March 20, 2019 at CIRDAP, Dhaka, Bangladesh. A total of 47 participants from the government, policy institutes, international organizations, academia and the civil society participated. Officials from Department of Agriculture Extension, Govt. of Bangladesh, Water Development Board, Bangladesh, Climate & Clean Air Coalition, BRAC University, Bangladesh, International Food Policy Research Institute, International Fertilizer Development Center, International Council for Research in Agroforestry, along with several other International and National organizations working on the above topic were present in this program.

Much of South Asia experiences a monomodal rainfall pattern with a distinct dry season following the annual monsoon. Enabling irrigation during the dry season has therefore been crucial in assuring improved productivity and double‐cropping. This is particularly the case in southern Bangladesh, where recent government initiatives have called for an expansion of surface water irrigation to reduce pressure on groundwater tables in intensively cultivated areas in the north of the country, where dry season boro rice is grown. This paper describes a method based on first principles of fluid mechanics to characterize the performance of surface water irrigation pumps used by small‐scale farmers in South Asia and Bangladesh. This method is unique, as it incorporates an optimized protocol suitable for resource‐limited conditions found in many developing countries and provides a comprehensive yet simple‐to‐use pump selection method for surface water irrigation pump customers. Using pump impellers as a case study, the method also characterizes the effect of pump geometric variations resulting from the variable production and assembly practices found in different manufacturing workshops. This method was validated with a case study in Bangladesh supported by both full‐scale field testing and numerical simulation results. © 2018 The Authors. Irrigation and Drainage published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Commission for Irrigation and Drainage

Intended to test broad hypotheses and arrive at unifying conclusions, meta-analysis is the process of extracting, assembling, and analyzing large quantities of data from multiple publications to increase statistical power and uncover explanatory patterns. This paper describes the ways in which meta-analysis has been applied to support claims and counter-claims regarding two topics widely debated in agricultural research, namely organic agriculture (OA) and conservation agriculture (CA). We describe the origins of debate for each topic and assess prominent meta-analyses considering data-selection criteria, research question framing, and the interpretation and extrapolation of meta-analytical results. Meta-analyses of OA and CA are also examined in the context of the political economy of development-oriented agricultural research. Does size matter? We suggest that it does, although somewhat ironically. While meta-analysis aims to pool all relevant studies and generate comprehensive databases from which broad insights can be drawn, our case studies suggest that the organization of many meta-analyses may affect the generalizability and usefulness of research results. The politicized nature of debates over OA and CA also appear to affect the divergent ways in which meta-analytical results may be interpreted and extrapolated in struggles over the legitimacy of both practices. Rather than resolving scientific contestation, these factors appear to contribute to the ongoing debate. Meta-analysis is nonetheless becoming increasingly popular with agricultural researchers attracted by the power for the statistical inference offered by large datasets. This paper consequently offers three suggestions for how scientists and readers of scientific literature can more carefully evaluate meta-analyses. First, the ways in which papers and data are collected should be critically assessed. Second, the justification of research questions, framing of farming systems, and the scales at which research results are extrapolated and discussed should be carefully evaluated. Third, when applied to strongly politicized topics situated in an arena of scientific debate, as is the case with OA and CA, more conservative interpretations of meta-analytical results that recognize the socially and politically embedded nature of agricultural research is are needed.

Intended to test broad hypotheses and arrive at unifying conclusions, meta-analysis is the process of extracting, assembling, and analyzing large quantities of data from multiple publications to increase statistical power and uncover explanatory patterns. This paper describes the ways in which meta-analysis has been applied to support claims and counter-claims regarding two topics widely debated in agricultural research, namely organic agriculture (OA) and conservation agriculture (CA). We describe the origins of debate for each topic and assess prominent meta-analyses considering data-selection criteria, research question framing, and the interpretation and extrapolation of meta-analytical results. Meta-analyses of OA and CA are also examined in the context of the political economy of development-oriented agricultural research. Does size matter? We suggest that it does, although somewhat ironically. While meta-analysis aims to pool all relevant studies and generate comprehensive databases from which broad insights can be drawn, our case studies suggest that the organization of many meta-analyses may affect the generalizability and usefulness of research results. The politicized nature of debates over OA and CA also appear to affect the divergent ways in which meta-analytical results may be interpreted and extrapolated in struggles over the legitimacy of both practices. Rather than resolving scientific contestation, these factors appear to contribute to the ongoing debate. Meta-analysis is nonetheless becoming increasingly popular with agricultural researchers attracted by the power for the statistical inference offered by large datasets. This paper consequently offers three suggestions for how scientists and readers of scientific literature can more carefully evaluate meta-analyses. First, the ways in which papers and data are collected should be critically assessed. Second, the justification of research questions, framing of farming systems, and the scales at which research results are extrapolated and ...

There is great untapped potential for farm mechanization to support rural development initiatives in low- and middle-income countries. As technology transfer of large machinery from high-income countries was ineffective during the 1980s and 90s, mechanization options were developed appropriate to resource poor farmers cultivating small and scattered plots. More recently, projects that aim to increase the adoption of farm machinery have tended to target service providers rather than individual farmers. This paper uses the Scaling Scan tool to assess three project case studies designed to scale different Mechanization Service Provider Models (MSPMs) in Mexico, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh. It provides a useful framework to assess the gap between international lessons learned on scaling captured in forty tactical questions over ten "scaling ingredients" as perceived by stakeholders involved in the projects, as well as private sector actors and government employees. Although at first sight the case studies seem to successfully reach high numbers of end users, the assessment exposes issues around the sustainable and transformative nature of the interventions. These are highly influenced by the design of the projects and by the environment and context of the intervention areas. Across the three case studies, large-scale adoption of the models was found to be hampered by lack of finance to set up MSPMs and insufficient collaboration among the value chain actors to strengthen and foster Mechanization Service Provider (MSP) entrepreneurs. Applying a scaling perspective on each case study project exposed important lessons on minimizing project dependencies. Positive examples include integration of capacity development materials in vocational training centers in Zimbabwe, promotion of MSPMs by other donors in East Africa and levering of nearly USD six million of private sector investment in appropriate machinery in Bangladesh. On the other hand, there is still a high dependency on the projects in terms of coaching of service ...

AbstractFertilizer, though one of the most essential inputs for increasing agricultural production, is a leading cause of nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture, contributing significantly to global warming. Therefore, understanding factors affecting farmers' use of fertilizers is crucial to develop strategies to improve its efficient use and to minimize its negative impacts. Using data from 2528 households across the Indo-Gangetic Plains in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, this study examines the factors affecting farmers' use of organic and inorganic fertilizers for the two most important cereal crops – rice and wheat. Together, these crops provide the bulk of calories consumed in the region. As nitrogen (N) fertilizer is the major source of global warming and other environmental effects, we also examine the factors contributing to its overuse. We applied multiple regression models to understand the factors influencing the use of inorganic fertilizer, Heckman models to understand the likelihood and intensity of organic fertilizer (manure) use, and a probit model to examine the over-use of N fertilizer. Our results indicate that various socio-economic and geographical factors influence the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers in rice and wheat. Across the study sites, N fertilizer over-use is the highest in Haryana (India) and the lowest in Nepal. Across all locations, farmers reported a decline in manure application, concomitant with a lack of awareness of the principles of appropriate fertilizer management that can limit environmental externalities. Educational programs highlighting measures to improving nutrient-use-efficiency and reducing the negative externalities of N fertilizer over-use are proposed to address these problems.

CONTEXT Sustainable intensification (SI) is envisioned as an effective strategy for developing countries to increase farm productivity while reducing negative environmental and social externalities. The development of regionally appropriate SI options however requires accounting for the knowledge and preferences of key stakeholders. In Bangladesh, the Government has requested international donors to support the development of dry season rice expansion in the coastal region. Policies however tend to be made without adequate study of farmers' preferences and ambitions; this can render crop intensification efforts ineffective. Understanding farmers' preferences for alternative crops and crop management practices are therefore crucial for success where agricultural development investments aim at incorporating the principles of SI. OBJECTIVE(S) Using coastal Bangladesh as a case study– we aim to (1) quantify farmers' preferences for alternative irrigated crop and crop management options in comparison to the status quo (land fallowing), (2) analyze whether farmers' preferences are conditioned by concerns regarding the cost and availability of irrigation and fertilizer inputs in comparison to expected net revenues, (3) understand how the heterogeneity in preferences can be attributed to farmer and/or farm characteristics, institutional, and biophysical factors, (4) determine how much farmers' are willing to invest in different crops and crop management options – including those reliant and not reliant on irrigation. METHODS Taking 300 farmers in two diverse coastal environments, a choice experiment (CE) was employed to explore the heterogeneity in farmers' preferences for different dry "rabi" season intensification options ('boro' rice, maize, wheat and mungbean) against the status quo (dry season land fallowing after harvest of the monsoon season rice crop). Analyses included random parameter logit modeling followed by willingness-to-invest and profit simulations. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Analyses revealed strong farmer preferences against rice and in favor of irrigated maize, and also in favor of rainfed or partially irrigated mungbean as an alternative to land fallowing. Irrespective of their location and environmental conditions, respondents had largely a negative preference for irrigation and fertilizer use due to high investment costs and associated production risks in the dry season. Nonetheless, a significant positive effect on their willingness-to-intensify cropping was observed where farmers felt it feasible to provide in-field drainage to limit waterlogging risks. SIGNIFICANCE The study signifies the importance of accounting for farmers' preferences while developing context-specific SI policies. Improving agronomic investments, tenure security, market, credit and extension support are likely prerequisites, alongside targeted diffusion of stress-tolerant mungbean and maize varieties for SI in coastal Bangladesh. ; Peer Review

CONTEXT: Sustainable intensification (SI) is envisioned as an effective strategy for developing countries to increase farm productivity while reducing negative environmental and social externalities. The development of regionally appropriate SI options however requires accounting for the knowledge and preferences of key stakeholders. In Bangladesh, the Government has requested international donors to support the development of dry season rice expansion in the coastal region. Policies however tend to be made without adequate study of farmers' preferences and ambitions; this can render crop intensification efforts ineffective. Understanding farmers' preferences for alternative crops and crop management practices are therefore crucial for success where agricultural development investments aim at incorporating the principles of SI. OBJECTIVE(S): Using coastal Bangladesh as a case study– we aim to (1) quantify farmers' preferences for alternative irrigated crop and crop management options in comparison to the status quo (land fallowing), (2) analyze whether farmers' preferences are conditioned by concerns regarding the cost and availability of irrigation and fertilizer inputs in comparison to expected net revenues, (3) understand how the heterogeneity in preferences can be attributed to farmer and/or farm characteristics, institutional, and biophysical factors, (4) determine how much farmers' are willing to invest in different crops and crop management options – including those reliant and not reliant on irrigation. METHODS: Taking 300 farmers in two diverse coastal environments, a choice experiment (CE) was employed to explore the heterogeneity in farmers' preferences for different dry "rabi" season intensification options ('boro' rice, maize, wheat and mungbean) against the status quo (dry season land fallowing after harvest of the monsoon season rice crop). Analyses included random parameter logit modeling followed by willingness-to-invest and profit simulations. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Analyses revealed strong ...