Sustainable and Resilient Farming System Intensification in Eastern Gangetic Plain: Lessons Learnt and Way Forward P K Joshi and Avinash Kishore South Asia Regional Office International Food Policy Research Institute E-mail: [email protected]; Web: www.ifpri-org
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Sustainable and Resilient Farming System Intensification in Eastern Gangetic Plain: Lessons Learnt and Way Forward
P K Joshi and Avinash KishoreSouth Asia Regional Office
International Food Policy Research InstituteE-mail: [email protected]; Web: www.ifpri-org
Higher tractor density in Bihar in spite of lower cropping intensity (1.42) compared to West Bengal or Bangladesh (1.80)
6.21 6.47 6.76 7.21
9.3210.14
11.83
16.34
18.37
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Hourly Wage (Rs) in Bihar
Year
Hourly Wage (Rs)
Paddyprice
(Rs/q)
Labor used
(hour)
Total wage
bill (Rs)Yield
(Q/ha)
Gross value of produce
Rs/ha
Wage share (%)
of GVP
2004 6.21 504 875 5433 23 11494 47
2005 6.47 478 831 5379 26 12331 44
2006 6.76 531 840 5676 25 13329 43
2007 7.21 632 771 5556 29 18318 30
2008 9.32 726 797 7423 27 19344 38
2009 10.14 856 768 7784 19 16244 48
2010 11.83 968 757 8954 19 18680 48
2011 16.34 830 797 13023 28 22881 57
2012 18.37 977 808 14842 24 23695 63
Rising wage rates and wage-share spurs on farm mechanization
Lessons learnt
• >90 % farmers in our sample used tractors or power-tillers• Machine rental markets are critical for farm mechanization
• Paradigm shift from land rents to machine rents• Rent transfer from small farmers to large farmers, who also own lands
• Existing subsidy regime and credit policies benefiting only those with collateral
• Bangladesh has much less subsidy than India; farmers get cheaper power tiller from China• Bangladesh rents lower by 60% despite high diesel prices• More vibrant rental markets: serves larger area to more farmers; renter has more options• More frequent use, even by sub-marginal farmers
• Opportunity: create machine service providers in agriculture• Use technology to create competitive rental markets in farm machines• Learn lessons from institutional innovations in renting farm machines
• Can India and Nepal learn from Bangladesh in mechanizing their agriculture?
• EGP also need to learn institutional innovations in Western Gangetic Plain
Case study 2: Groundwater irrigation• Rapid increase in groundwater irrigated area in EGP since 1980s
• Universal access to groundwater (capital cost of tapping GW is relatively low)• 97-100% farmers in Bihar and Nepal terai• 71-83% farmers in West Bengal and Bangladesh irrigated their land in last 1 year
• Water is easy to access, but irrigation is expensive• Farmers over-economize on groundwater
• Low yields, low cropping intensity and high vulnerability to droughts or late onset of rains
• Diesel pump-sets are the main source of GW irrigation in Bihar, Nepal terai and Bangladesh; WB moving to electrified pump sets
• Water markets are very important in EGP• Only 2-15% farmers own pumps; majority of farmers get water from others• But water markets are not competitive
Rental Rate of Pump-sets in Bihar and West Bengal (2000-2012)
(Rs/hour)
West BengalBihar
Lessons learnt
• Private investment in tube wells & pump-sets, and water markets have ensured near universal access to groundwater irrigation
• Affordable access to irrigation is still a problem• Water markets in EGP are not becoming competitive
• Unlikely to competitive as long as diesel is the main source of energy
• High cost of irrigation impedes sustainable intensification and make less resilient to drought
• Import restriction on pump sets hurts smallholders, especially in India
IV
Conclusions and Way Forward
Conclusions
• Number of technological, institutional and policy constraints impeding sustainable intensification of EGP
• Water and farm mechanization would be entry point for sustainable intensification
• Machine renting and water markets are evolving but inefficient and imperfect but will play big role
• Machine rents and water prices are not declining despite expanding markets • New phenomenon emerging from land rent to water and machine rent• Conservation agriculture technologies for sustainable intensification are
conspicuous by their absence in the region• Awareness, use and ownership of zero-till seed drills, laser land levelers,
drip/sprinkler systems is very low• Capital subsidy alone won’t be enough
• Institutional innovations and intensive extension effort will help more
Way forward: integration with SDIP policy project
• Key policy and institutional barriers and needed reforms in food, energy and water sectors
• Feasibility of adapting best practices on institutional innovations in strengthening farm machine rental and water markets
• Alternative cost-effective options for diesel for groundwater use(e.g. solar pump sets)
• Risks, coping mechanisms and financing need assessment• Engaging private sector to expand machine rental and water
markets• Enabling policies, and role of credit, subsidies, import and farm services