► Alternate wetting and drying reduces famers’ hours of irrigation use by about 38%. ► Alternate wetting and drying does not reduce yields and profits of rice farmers. ► Panel data is needed to ...better control for selection problems in future analysis.
This article evaluates the impacts of a controlled irrigation technique in rice production called alternate wetting and drying (AWD). Propensity score matching (PSM) and regression-based approaches applied to farm-level survey data are used to achieve the objective of the study. The PSM and regression-based approach accounts for the potential bias due to selection problems from observable variables. Results of the impact analysis using both empirical approaches indicate that AWD, particularly the “Safe AWD” variant, reduces the hours of irrigation use (by about 38%), without a statistically significant reduction in yields and profits. This reduction in irrigation time translates to corresponding savings in the amount of irrigation water and pumping energy used. However, further analysis of the impact estimates suggests that the potential magnitude of the selection bias based on
unobservable variables may still be able to eliminate the measured impact from the PSM and regression-based techniques that only control for selection based on
observable variables. Hence, the current impact results have to be interpreted with caution and further data collection is needed to construct a panel data that would allow one to account for selection problems due to unobservable variables and, consequently, better estimate the AWD impact.
The goal of this paper is to show how culture - shared norms and values - is challenged and used to facilitate cooperative behavior within the context of farmer field schools (FFS) in central Luzon, ...Philippines. The success of the FFS is primarily associated with cultural norms that encourage experiential and collective learning and eventually lead to the adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) methods among the farmers. The study was conducted in central Luzon, the rice granary region of the Philippines, from 1992 to 1995 and again in 1999. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed. Results indicate that a keen understanding of Filipino culture and values is essential if FFS is to be successful and if farmers are to successfully learn and practice IPM.
During the post‐Green Revolution period of rice research at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), a wide range of innovative methodologies were introduced by anthropologists that ...transformed the way rice research is conducted, with a particular focus on valuing farmer knowledge, criteria, and practices, and on bringing farmers into the research process. This study presents a historic account of the contributions of eight practicing agricultural anthropologists at IRRI, one of the 15 world Consortium for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centers, between 1978 and 2010. The types of research undertaken reflect how anthropologists work in the area of strategic research, with the mandate to contribute upstream to basic science and downstream to applied outcomes. We document the innovations of IRRI anthropologists, including methodologies by which integrated pest management interventions and other technical tools are adapted by and for farmers; as well as the development of Farmer Field Schools, farmer‐to‐farmer training, and other innovations drawing on anthropological skill sets.
This study assessed the socio-demographic profile of Filipino rice farmers, their aspirations for their children, and the factors that influence such aspirations. Both quantitative and qualitative ...methods were used. Focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews (KIIs), informal interviews, and intermittent field observations were conducted in 13 villages of 12 municipalities in three provinces of the country – namely Agusan del Norte for Mindanao, Iloilo for the Visayas, and Isabela for Luzon. A farmer household survey was also conducted among randomly selected 923 farmers from these three provinces. The majority of the farmers did not want their children to be rice farmers. Most of them aspired to their children's college education for they want them to work on non-farming jobs in urban areas or abroad. Logistic regression showed that age and number of children of farmers increase the likelihood that a farmer aspires for at least one of his or her children to be rice farmers. On the other hand, gender, tenure, and economic status of the province decrease that likelihood. The physical and economic hardships experienced in rice farming are the major reasons farmers do not like their children to follow their steps.
Background The study was done in three villages in Nueva Ecija, Philippines. It surveys farmers’ belief system and pesticide practices relative to health and safety. Methods Initially it used a ...simulated market study on willingness to pay for personal protective equipment in the form of gloves and masks. Then a combination of semi-structured, formal, informal, and key-informant interviews, as well as focus groups, and field observations was done intermittently in a span of approximately 12 years. Results The farmers perceive illness in terms of inability to function. Pesticide to them may not be a threat because (i) they are immune, (ii) it is regarded as a medicine that is needed by the plants rather than poison, and (iii) exposure is only through inhalation and ingestion not through dermal contact. Added to that, they put value on pasma, and try to prevent it at the cost of exposure to pesticides. These perceptions lead to their practices showing inadequate protection. Conclusion There is the need for more health education programs that tap farmers’ belief system and cognitive categories to stress the need for precautions.
To address issues of water scarcity and food security for sustainable rice farming and increasing production, a water-saving technology called alternate wetting and drying (AWD) was disseminated in ...the Philippines. This study assessed the impact of facilitating a network of stakeholders on disseminating AWD in irrigated rice systems in the Philippines. It used both qualitative and quantitative data collected from 2002 to 2012 in study sites in the country. Engaging multi-stakeholders in adaptive research, training, and dissemination facilitated the process of more interaction by partners. All partners joined a knowledge and dissemination alliance for scaling out AWD activities. This in turn effected a policy outcome, and the synergetic interactions of each partner within and outside the current network fast-tracked the dissemination process and adoption of AWD by farmers. The AWD practice resulted in an increase in irrigated rice area but not necessarily in rice production and farmers’ income. It also reduced labor and fuel consumption, especially in deep-well irrigation systems.
This article examines the impact of two Integrated Pest Management information dissemination approaches on insecticide use and efficiency of Vietnamese rice farmers. Specifically, we investigate the ...impact of Farmer Field Schools (FFS) and "No Early Spray" (NES) mass media campaigns by utilizing econometric approaches that control for endogeneity and selection problems. Our results suggest that farmers exposed to FFS and NES information are more technically efficient than control farmers who have not been exposed to information from FFS or NES. However, only FFS farmers, not NES farmers, seem to have significantly reduced their insecticide use relative to non-FFS or non-NES control farmers.
We assessed the impact of combining direct-seeded rice (DSR) and early-maturing varieties (EMVs) on productivity, costs, income and agricultural employment of farmers in two hunger-prone districts of ...northwest Bangladesh. Analysis included descriptive statistics, comparison of means and regression. The combination of DSR and EMV has a significant positive effect on the income of farmers by US$625 per ha from aman (wet) to boro (dry) seasons. The main reasons for the increase in income were a higher rice yield (US$669 kg/ha) and a reduction in costs (US$44 per ha) due to less labour required in crop establishment in the aman season and a higher yield and income for boro crops. Farmers were able to plant their boro crops earlier and sell their crops at a time when the supply in the market was low and prices were higher. For agricultural labourers, the early aman harvest generates more labour demand (19% in Rangpur and 22% in Nilphamari), with the assumption that 5% of the total rice area was planted using both DSR and EMVs. Direct-seeding and shorter duration rice varieties therefore enable farmers to obtain a higher yield and income while allowing agricultural workers to earn money in the monga months and ensuring efficient use of limited resources for sustainable agricultural production.
This study evaluates the impact of farmer field schools (FFS) on knowledge, insecticide use, and yield using a nonconsecutive, two‐year panel data that allows one to control for nonrandom selection. ...Regression analysis using a difference‐in‐difference approach indicates FFS training did not result in statistically significant impacts on insecticide use and yield over the period of time examined. However, there is some evidence that FFS had an “initial” knowledge impact, but it was not sustained over time. Retraining FFS graduates may be an attractive option to help maintain knowledge and improve performance over time, but we do not find empirical evidence on the effectiveness of this strategy based on a small sample of retrained farmers.
La présente étude examine l’impact du programme Champ‐École‐Paysan (CEP) (Farmer Field Schools – FFS) sur l’acquisition des connaissances, l’utilisation d’insecticides et le rendement, à l’aide de données de panel non consécutives recueillies sur une période de deux ans et permettant de maîtriser la sélection non aléatoire. Une analyse de régression utilisant la méthode de différence de différences a révélé que la formation offerte dans le cadre du programme CEP n’a pas eu d’impact statistiquement significatif sur l’utilisation d’insecticides ni sur le rendement au cours de la période visée par l’étude. Toutefois, il semble que le programme CEP a eu un impact sur l’acquisition des connaissances au début, mais que cet impact n’a pas été soutenu au fil du temps. Le recyclage des participants au programme CEP peut constituer une option intéressante pour le maintien des connaissances et l’amélioration du rendement au fil du temps. Par contre, l’étude d’un petit échantillon de producteurs recyclés n’a pas fourni de preuve empirique permettant de croire à l’efficacité de cette stratégie.
Global food insecurity is increasing in absolute terms despite recent decreases in percentage terms. Options to increase food production while protecting the environment exclude further expansion of ...cropland, leaving increased agricultural productivity as an option assuming we address its associated technological and societal challenges while exercising environmental conservation. Improving productivity requires redoubled efforts in interdisciplinary work to design and implement sound agricultural management practices and efficient use of inputs. Based on a historical perspective of the last few decades on hypothesized environmental limits to food production and looking at prospective futures, we analyze the required type of interdisciplinary research to improve productivity. We conclude that bringing together increased food supply and environmental conservation requires research that integrates engineering, technology, science, policy, and action.
•Reconciling environmental conservation and food productivity is a critical need.•Interdisciplinary research provides synergies between productivity and conservation.•Requires full spectrum of natural and social science, engineering, and technology.
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