Farmer Insights Regarding Zero Tillage Systems Against Weeds in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia

Farmer insights regarding zero tillage systems against weeds

Authors

  • Bhavya Suri International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, New Delhi, India
  • Pragya Timsina International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, New Delhi, India
  • Anjana Chaudhary International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Emma Karki International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Akriti Sharma International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Rama Sharma International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Hom Nath Gartaula International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, New Delhi, India
  • Brendan Brown CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Adelaide, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3329/saja.v9i1-2.69749

Keywords:

Herbicides; Zero tillage; Farmer perceptions; Weed management; Conservation agriculture; Technology adoption

Abstract

A large amount of literature has now proven that Zero Tillage (ZT) as a part of Conservation Agriculture-based Sustainable Intensification (CASI) practices has the potential to help smallholder farmers in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of South Asia transition to more productive, profitable, and sustainable production systems. Despite this, changes in weed management under ZT are commonly identified as a constraint to wider adoption, based primarily on quantitative investigations. Yet the contribution of this to farmers’ evaluation and adoption behaviour remains underexplored. To address this issue, we explore farmers’ perceptions of CASI-based herbicide weed management systems using semi-structured interviews from six locations across the EGP. This study identifies a divergence in experiences with herbicides, both geographically (with Sunsari and Bihar more negative than other locations) and in terms of user typologies (where users are overwhelmingly positive, and non-users are overwhelmingly negative). This divergence suggests that an information void exists that has the potential to contribute strongly to the negative evaluation of CASI, as well as potentially negative changes in household labour dynamics. To overcome this, promotional efforts should target education and training programs that address how to effectively spray, potentially with increased emphasis on use of weather forecasting. This would ensure equitable outcomes for household members, and increased interest and use of CASI could be promoted.

South Asian J. Agric., Vol. 9, No.1&2, 2022-‘23: 52-63

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Published

2023-12-31

How to Cite

Suri, B., Timsina, P., Chaudhary, A. ., Karki, E., Sharma, A., Sharma, R., Gartaula, H. N., & Brown, B. . (2023). Farmer Insights Regarding Zero Tillage Systems Against Weeds in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia: Farmer insights regarding zero tillage systems against weeds. South Asian Journal of Agriculture, 9(1-2), 52–63. https://doi.org/10.3329/saja.v9i1-2.69749

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