Trade-offs between non-farm income and on-farm soil and water conservation investments of smallholder farmers in the semi-arid tropics of India

    Nedumaran, S and Singh, N P (2017) Trade-offs between non-farm income and on-farm soil and water conservation investments of smallholder farmers in the semi-arid tropics of India. Agricultural Economics Research Review, 30 (1). pp. 47-56. ISSN 0971-3441

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    Abstract

    This paper has examined the trade-off between non-farm income and on-farm soil and water conservation (SWC) investment by smallholder farmers in the semi-arid tropics (SAT) of India. A dynamic bio-economic simulation model has been used to assess the impact of improved off-farm employment opportunities on household welfare, land degradation and labour allocation for SWC activities. The simulation results has revealed that improved non-farm employment opportunities increase the household welfare but reduce the households’ incentives to deploy labour for soil and water conservation measures, leading to higher levels of soil erosion and rapid land degradation. The study has suggested that there is the need of other complementary policy interventions to protect the natural resource base because improvement in non farm income opportunities does not produce a win-win solution in the watershed in the SAT region.

    Item Type: Article
    Divisions: Research Program : Innovation Systems for the Drylands (ISD)
    CRP: UNSPECIFIED
    Uncontrolled Keywords: Land degradation, soil and water conservation, non-farm income, bio economic model, Telangana, Kothapally watershed, Trade-off, Soil and water conservation (SWC), SAT region
    Subjects: Others > Smallholder Farmers
    Others > Semi-Arid Tropics
    Others > Soil
    Others > Watershed Management
    Others > Water Conservation
    Depositing User: Mr Ramesh K
    Date Deposited: 28 Jul 2017 05:57
    Last Modified: 28 Jul 2017 05:57
    URI: http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/10112
    Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5958/0974-0279.2017.00004.0
    Projects: UNSPECIFIED
    Funders: UNSPECIFIED
    Acknowledgement: The authors are thankful to the anonymous referees for the comments on the earlier version of this paper.
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