Shiferaw, B A and Reddy, R V and Wani, S P and Nageswara Rao, G D (2003) Watershed Management and Farmer Conservation Investments in the Semi-Arid Tropics of India: Analysis of Determinants of Resource Use Decisions and Land Productivity Benefits. Socio Economic Policy Working Paper 16. Working Paper. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics , Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India.
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Many people have contributed to this study. We are grateful to the survey households who spared their valuable time in responding to our comprehensive and far-reaching questions, E Jagadeesh for his valuable assistance in verifying and analyzing data and PN Jayakumar for his contribution in editing the initial draft of the paper. Financial support by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) through RETA # 6067 on Participatory Watershed Management for Reducing Poverty and Land Degradation in SAT Asia, and ICRISAT is gratefully acknowledged.
Abstract
Integrated watershed management has been promoted as a suitable strategy for improving productivity and sustainable intensification of agriculture in rainfed drought-prone regions. The paper examines the socioeconomic and biophysical factors influencing farmers’ soil and water conservation investment decisions and the resulting economic incentives (productivity benefits) from watershed management interventions in the semi-arid tropics of India. The paper develops a theoretical framework to test hypotheses and to explore (a) the interlinkages between land productivity, soil quality, input use and conservation investments, and (b) the influence of local market imperfections on production and conservation decisions. These relationships are analyzed using plot-level data in six semi-arid villages. A systems approach (3SLS) is used for the joint estimation of structural equations related to land productivity, input use, resource investments and land values. The results show that after controlling for input use and germplasm technologies, soil quality and access to supplemental irrigation significantly affect eproductivity of land. Off-farm income is negatively associated with resource investments and land productivity. The watershed program seems to have a greater impact on dryland crops (cereals and pulses) than on other crops not supported by the project. A plot-wise analysis found some degree of substitution between private and public investments in land and water management. Differential effects of family labor on the decision to invest in agriculture revealed that male labor plays a key role in this decision while female workers significantly influence the level of labor use in production and resource conservation. This indicates that labor market imperfections, especially for female labor, are most likely to affect production and conservation investments.
| Item Type: | Monograph (Working Paper) |
|---|---|
| Divisions: | UNSPECIFIED |
| CRP: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Subjects: | Others > Watershed Management Others > Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics |
| Depositing User: | Mr Sanat Kumar Behera |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Oct 2011 13:25 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Oct 2013 12:21 |
| URI: | http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/2466 |
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