This dataset is built from a survey among wheat farming households in Bihar state. The survey was conducted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) between August and September 2021. In total, the questionnaire was administered to 1,008 wheat-growing households. The survey elicited information on various topics, for example, socio-demographic characteristics, wheat cultivation, varietal use, access to seed sources, and asset ownership. We collected gender-disaggregated data asking men and women in the same household a predefined set of questions, such as influence in intra-household decision-making.
Agriculture is the most severely affected sector due to drought-like situations. Bihar is one of the most vulnerable states to drought due to its geographical location, and its high dependency on rainfed agriculture. The first survey, in Kharif season 2022 covered 518 farmers from 11 districts, 39 blocks and 79 villages of Bihar in October 2022. The second survey was the phone survey which was conducted to collect the data for the Rabi season 2022. We interviewed 339 farmers out of the 518 farmers in June 2023. To validate the first phone survey, we interviewed 229 farmers out of the 518 farmers. These drought impact surveys were designed in a way that data are collected from randomly selected farmers spread uniformly within a KVK domain/district. The survey questionnaire captures all production practices applied by farmers from land preparation to harvesting, including detailed sections on crop establishment, sources and methods of irrigation, fertilizer use, weed control and cost of irrigation. Data is captured through the electronically enabled Open Data Kit (ODK) tool on mobile phone or tablet. This contributes as a useful database which can be used by researchers, and policymakers for developing Bihar’s drought management strategy to protect the farmers from future drought-like situations.
The database compiles information on the adoption of digital innovations in agriculture in India, sourced from surveys conducted between June and November 2023. It includes data gathered from 69 organizations, encompassing details about organizational profiles, types of digital interventions, business models, perceived impact, strategic collaborations, as well as skills in data, analysis, involved ecosystems, and obstacles to development
Lower yield of wheat in eastern India can be attributed to several input factors i.e., inappropriate crop management practices including other social and environmental factors. Among them, sub-optimal irrigation is one of the important factors. Recommended number of irrigations for optimal wheat harvest is 4-5 depending upon crop growth stages and availability of water. Observations by the project team and a recent survey conducted by CSISA at a landscape-level found that majority of farmers in this part of India apply 2-3 irrigations. Moreover, several studies have suggested to apply irrigation to wheat at its grain filling stage to protect the crop from terminal heat stress thereby safeguarding yield. To validate the effect of number of irrigations and irrigation at the grain-filling stage of wheat, multi-location on-farm trials were conducted continuously over six years starting from 2016-17. Krishi Vigyan Kendras, district-level extension center of national agriculture research and extension system were involved in this process. Ten districts were selected in a way that all agro-climatic zones of this area are covered. The treatment in this trial was application of additional irrigation at maturity/grain-filling stage of wheat crop against general farmer practice. Number of irrigations with farmers vary from 1 to 4, so our treatments included 1+1, 2+1, 3+1, and 4+1 irrigations. We applied these treatments in two sets of wheat crop establishment i.e., zero-tillage and conventional tillage methods. There is asymmetry in distribution of samples within treatments and over years. That happened as trial was in farmer’s participatory mode and numbers were dependent completely on willingness of farmers to participate. Altogether, the trial was conducted at 1810 sites, and we captured 63 variables including yield and yield attributing traits.
The Green Revolution has led to intensive, irrigated rice-wheat systems across the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). The limited turn-around time between rice harvest and sowing of the next crop (wheat) and mechanized harvesting of rice pose a critical challenge for farmers to sustainably handle the surplus rice residues. Because only a few economically viable residue-management alternatives are readily available, a majority of the 2.5 million farmers burn an estimated 23 million metric tons of rice stubble in October and November. The rice residue burning and the resultant increase in air pollution have received significant media attention in the recent past. Residue burning causes emission of short-lived climate pollutants, such as methane and black carbon. More importantly, the decrease in air quality due to rice stubble burning has a significant adverse effect on human pulmonary functions. A solution for residue burning is offered by the application of two fundamental principles of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in wheat – minimal soil disturbance and crop residue retention for mulching. CA is heralded as more sustainable than the traditional tillage alternatives. The first-generation CA technology using conventional zero tillage seeder, although reduced the turn-around time for wheat, was not efficient in handling the surplus loose rice residues present on the soil surface. The second-generation direct-seeders (SGDS), such as Happy Seeder, alongside a superior straw management system (e.g., spreaders attached to the combined harvesters), were subsequently developed to facilitate wheat sowing even under heavy stubble and avoid the need for residue burning, making the farming system more sustainable through curtailing the negative environmental externalities. To map the diffusion process of CA (particularly SGDS) and to identify the constraints faced in disseminating the technology among farmers, we conducted a face-to-face survey among the service providers of Happy Seeders in 2022. The survey was conducted in randomly selected villages (where village surveys were conducted) from 8 districts of Punjab.A total of 385 service providers were included (Barnala 12; Fatehgarh_Sahib 49; Jalandhar 37; Ludhiana 86; Moga 18; Nawanshar 20; Patiala 90; Sangrur 73).
The dataset is generated as part of an empirical study to develop a mixed research methodology, taking variables from both quantitative household surveys and qualitative case studies for quickly and effectively capturing rural women involvement and empowerment and their ramifications on technological change and farmer livelihoods. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted in the second half of 2018 in Madhya Pradesh (India), where wheat is one of the main crops. The empirical part of this study is based on data collected from three districts of Madhya Pradesh, India – Jabalpur, Mandla and Damoh. Madhya Pradesh is one of the states with largest wheat growing area (19% of wheat area in India) but with lower wheat productivity (2.85 tons) compared to other major producers (4.29 tons in Punjab and 3.98 tons in Haryana in 2014-15 season). From each of the three districts, 5 villages were selected for data collection. We restricted our study to those villages where wheat is one of the main crops. Of the total 15 villages, three included the GENNOVATE case study communities (non-random selection). The other 12 will be selected based on the remoteness to the state road highways (6 close, 6 remote). From each village, two wards (sub-units of village) will be selected based on the income poverty (one where most of the poor households reside, and other with the non-poor). Two FGDs were conducted (one for men, one for women) in the selected wards.
Gender equality is an indicator of sustainable development and also a means toward it. One of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by United Nations is to achieve gender equality and empowerment of women and girls by 2030 (United Nations 2017). Empowerment of rural women is considered also as a necessary pre-requisite to attain food security and alleviate poverty in developing countries. While a number of studies address women empowerment as a developmental outcome, the deterministic role of rural women empowerment on agrarian development has not received sufficient research focus. On one hand, the quantitative empirical studies addressing technological change often limit the gender dimension to a binary variable on sex of the household head. The key roles and responsibilities of women members of the farm household, who are directly or indirectly involved in crop and livestock production, are overlooked by doing so. One the other hand, the in-depth qualitative case studies are not sufficiently broad (small sample size) to allow for generalization. Against this backdrop, the proposed study attempts to develop a mixed research methodology taking variables from quantitative household surveys and qualitative case studies for quickly and effectively capturing rural women involvement and empowerment and their ramifications on technological change and farmer livelihoods. The empirical analysis will be based on Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and household survey data, conducted in the second half of 2018 in Madhya Pradesh (India), where wheat is one of the main crops. The study frame was built in close collaboration with the CGIAR Gender and Agriculture Research Network, and also be a ‘pilot’ study for identifying and integrating gender variables in the adoption-impact studies in CRP WHEAT and MAIZE Programmes. The overall objective of the project is to better understand the importance of women involvement in agriculture and women empowerment on technological change and rural livelihoods in India, focusing on impact heterogeneity and the role of different social institutions. There are two sets of research questions – first specific to the study area, and second more generic to the developing countries. The research questions specific to the study area are shown below. 1. Which of the individual / household / community characteristics are the key determinants of women empowerment in agriculture? 2. What role do gender plays on diffusion of varietal technologies and sustainable intensification practices in wheat? 3. What are the impacts of women empowerment and gender roles on household food insecurity? The more generic research questions are concerning (a) better technology targeting and (b) development of a variable set on gender to be used for quantitative data collection. The research questions framed in this connection are shown below. 4. How should the technology dissemination and targeting strategies change when the role, responsibilities, and preferences of women farmers are addressed? 5. Which are the easy to observe household attributes that could stand proxy for woman empowerment in quantitative studies on technological change? The empirical part of this study will be based on data collected from three districts of Madhya Pradesh, India – Jabalpur, Mandla and Damoh. Madhya Pradesh is one of the states with largest wheat growing area (19% of wheat area in India) but with lower wheat productivity (2.85 tons) compared to other major producers (4.29 tons in Punjab and 3.98 tons in Haryana in 2014-15 season). While Mandla and Damoh are lower productive districts within the state, Jabalpur farmers experience moderately high wheat productivity. Mandla and Damoh are also categorized as the disadvantaged districts by Government of India. The selected districts contain the three GENNOVATE case-study communities.
The Green Revolution has led to intensive, irrigated rice-wheat systems in the Indian subcontinent that has helped the nations reduce poverty and food insecurity. The limited turn-around time between rice harvest and sowing of the winter crop (wheat) and mechanized harvesting of rice pose a critical challenge for farmers to sustainably handle the surplus rice residues. Because only a few economically viable residue-management alternatives are readily available, a majority of the 2.5 million rice-wheat farmers of the Indo Gangetic Plains (IGP) burn an estimated 23 million metric tons of rice stubble in October and November. Residue burning causes an emission of short-lived climate pollutants, such as methane and black carbon. More importantly, the decrease in air quality due to rice stubble burning has a significant adverse effect on human pulmonary functions. In the recent past, rice residue burning and the resultant increase in air pollution have received significant media attention. However, the residue burning of rabi (winter) crops that occurs during the March-May period – when wheat crop residue is burnt – goes rather unnoticed. The preliminary analysis of remote sensing data indicated that wheat residue burning is prevalent in the Central Indian states, especially Madhya Pradesh. The potential technologies to manage wheat residue (e.g., zero tillage direct-seeded rice) are not yet popular in Central India. Against this background, the objective of the study can be stated as follows – 1. Groundtruthing of satellite data on wheat residue burning and connecting farming system characteristics to farm-level residue burning 2. Estimating the economic and environmental impacts (e.g., GHG emission) of wheat residue burning in the Madhya Pradesh state of India 3. Designing interventions to incentivize farmers to adopt farming technologies that avoid residue burning while preparing land for Kharif crops. A farm household survey and village survey were conducted in three districts of Madhya Pradesh, where residue burning poses a serious environmental concern, such as Rajgarh, Vidisha, Hoshangabad.This dataset contains the village survey data collected through key informant interviews in 21 randomly selected villages with rice-wheat production systems.
Dataset of daily fine particular matter (PM2.5) emissions for the period 2012 though 2020. Emissions were calculated from wheat and rice production statistics and active fires from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) 375-m product. Rice harvest period was considered from October to November, and wheat harvest from April through May.
Wheat productivity in eastern Indo-Gangetic plain is sub-optimal that can largely be attributed to delayed wheat sowing and use of late sown varieties. Ideal time of sowing wheat in eastern India is first fortnight of November but in general, it gets delayed by 15-25 days. This delay puts farmers in a situation where they tend to prefer late sown varieties whose potential yields are low. By 2020, more than half wheat farmers in Bihar more than one third in eastern Uttar Pradesh were using late sown wheat varieties. To validate the effect of timely sowing and comparative performance of long and short duration varieties, multi-location on-farm trials were conducted continuously over five years starting from 2016-17. Krishi Vigyan Kendras, district-level extension centre of national agriculture research and extension system were involved in the process of evidence generation. Ten districts so ten centres were selected in a way that all agro-climatic zones of this area is covered. There were five treatments of sowing windows – 01 to 10 November, 11 – 20 November, 21 to 30 November, 01 – 15 December and 16 – 31 December. Varietal performance was compared in T3, T4 and T5 as short duration varieties can’t be sown before 20 November. There is asymmetry in distribution of samples within treatments and over years. That happened as trial was in farmer’s participatory mode and numbers were dependent completely on willingness of farmers to participate. Altogether, the trial was conducted at 3735 sites and we captured 60 variables including yield and yield attributing traits.
