Zero Tillage Technology

Abstract

In India, there is increasing recognition among policy-makers of the largely untapped potential of the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) for meeting state- and national-level food needs. Zero-tillage (ZT) is a proven technology for enhancing wheat productivity and, hence, food security in the IGP, while reducing production costs a ‘win-win’ scenario that should support rapid technology scaling even though adoption remains modest to date. Only 44% of sample households knew about ZT technology and there was substantial scale bias in favor of larger scale farmers both with respect to awareness and adoption. Both the adoption behaviour and characteristics of the respondents’ network members influenced their own awareness and adoption of ZT, particularly among farmers in the smallest landholding tercile. Farmers valued the time-saving potential of ZT, especially under conditions of increasingly unreliable monsoon rains resulting in a delayed rice crop and, consequently, late establishment of wheat which reduces yield.