Adoption of conservation agriculture technology in diversified systems and impact on productivity: evidence from three districts in Bangladesh

Where land is an extremely limiting factor, production is increased through intensive cultivation with two or more crops in a year. We found that 82 per cent of the operating crop land is under 2 or more crops. Soil fertility depletion is one of the main biophysical limiting factors for sustaining per capita food production for smallholder farmers in this system. The adoption of conservation agricultural practices, as a way to tackle this challenge, has become an important issue in the development policy agenda for smallholder agriculture. This paper examines the adoption decisions for conservation tillage, using recent primary data collected from 606 farming households practising diverse cropping systems in three different districts where on-farm participatory trials were being carried out. The paper employs classical tests to identify variations in adoption and yield between participatory and non-participatory farmers as well as variation between cropping patterns and locations. A double hurdle model was employed to explain the factors influencing adoption decisions by farm households. The analysis reveals that several factors contribute to probability and intensity of adoption. Diversities exist between locations, cropping systems, and seasons. Policies that target conservation as a measure of sustainable agriculture must consider diversities for wider diffusion of technology.