Does conservation agriculture yield benefits in coastal Bangladesh? Multi-criteria analysis of three years of farmer-managed rice - maize rotations. Tim Krupnik

1. Does conservation agriculture yield benefits in coastal
Bangladesh?
Multi-criteria analysis of three years of farmer-managed rice - maize
rotations
T.J. Krupnik, M. K. Hossain, J. Timsina, M.K. Gathala, T. Sapkota, S. Yasmin, Md.
Shahjahan,
F. Hossain, A.S.M.A. Kurishi, A.A.A Miah, B.M.S. Rahman, A.J. McDonald

2. Rice-maize systems are
expanding in Bangladesh
• Changing diets and income growth:
maize is Bangladesh’s most rapidly
expanding cereal.
• A ‘high-investment – high-return’ cash
crop.
• Significant opportunities for increasing
income and diversifying farming systems.
Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications

3. Low crop intensity and diversification
Limited irrigation
resources
Soil and water
salinity
Growing energy
and fuel costs
Migration:
increasing labor
scarcity and cost
Donor and government emphasis on agricultural
development
Challenges in Bangladesh’s coastal region
Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
Risk averse and
capital
constrained
farmers
Limited
availability of
innovative farm
machinery

4. Sustainable Intensification? “Producing more output from the same
area of land while reducing negative environmental impacts &
increasing contributions to natural capital & the flow of
environmental services” (Pretty 2008)
Socially
appropriate and
Genetic
diversification
Environmental
Impact, resource
Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
Cropping
systems

5. How might conservation agriculture (CA)
contribute to sustainable intensification in
coastal Bangladesh ?
Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
• CA remains highly
controversial
• 14 m. ha in Asia
• 1.5 m. ha in S. Asia
• Challenges in rice-
based cropping
systems
• Tropical and sub-
tropical maize
under CA?

6. Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
Tillage and crop establishment types
Conventional
Rabi season
Kharif
season
Conservation agriculture
Rabi season
Kharif
season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6gKSgTOrT8
Power tiller
Hand sowing
Puddling
Manual
transplanting
Strip tillage
Soaked,
unpuddled
Machine drilled
Manual
transplanting

7. Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
Bangladesh
Partially irrigated trial
location
Rainfed trial location
Kaligan
j
Bhati
a
Ghat
a
Babuga
nj
Kalapar
aRainfed rice-maize trials:
Bhatia Ghata (n = 10)
Kalapara (n = 5)
Partially irrigated maize trials (rice is rainfed)
Kaliganj (n = 10), Babugan and Kalapara (n = 5
each)

8. Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
Farmers establish split-plot
trials
Strip tilled + machine
drilled, herbicide weed
control
CA
Strip till
+
Rice residue
Full till
+
No residue
Tilled + hand sown +
manually weeded
Rabi
Season
Var. NK40
Mixed till
Strip till
+
Rice residue
Full till
Three years of
farmer-managed
rotational trials

9. Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
Strip tilled + machine
drilled, herbicide weed
control
CA
Strip till
+
Rice residue
Mixed till
Strip till
+
Rice residue
Full till
+
No residue
Tilled + hand sown +
manually weeded
Unpuddled
soil, herbicide
weed control
Manual
transplantin
g,
maize
residue
Puddled
transplantin
g,
No residue
Kharif
Season
(entirel
y
rainfed)
Manual
transplantin
g,
maize
residue
Puddled soil,
manual weed control
Farmers establish split-plot
trials
CA Mixed till Full till
Full till
Three years of
farmer-managed
rotational trials
Rabi
Season
Var. NK40

10. Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
Strip tilled + machine
drilled, herbicide weed
control
CA
Strip till
+
Rice residue
Mixed till
Strip till
+
Rice residue
Full till
Full till
+
No residue
Tilled + hand sown +
manually weeded
Unpuddled
soil, herbicide
weed control
CA Mixed till Full till
Puddled soil,
manual weed control
Farmers establish split-plot
trials
BR
RI
41
BR
RI
52
BR
RI
41
BR
RI
52
BR
RI
41
BR
RI
52
Three years of
farmer-managed
rotational trials
Rabi
Season
Var. NK40
Kharif
Season
(entirel
y
rainfed)

11. Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
*** ***
Partially
irrigated
Rainfed
Locationeffects
*
*
*
*
*
*
Rice genotype effect
PartiallyirrigatedRainfed
*
*
*
*
*
*

12. Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
Soil moisture influences maize
density and yield patterns
Maize density significantly (P < 0.001) and
consistently higher under strip tillage

13. Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
Economic performance of rice-
maize rotations by tillage type
Costs ***
Profit ***
Costs ***
Profit ***

14. Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
Systems level yield-scaled green house gas
emissions
34 GWP
CO2
N2O
CH4
• Climate
• Soils, pH
• Residues
• Water
• Nutrients
• Energy
• Crop mgt.
• Fert. Prod.
• Tillage
kg CO2
equivalent
ha–1
Feliciano et al. (2016)
GHG mitigation options
tool
IPCC
(2013)

15. Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
Multi-criteria performance indicators
CA Mixed tillage Full tillage
Partially irrigated Rainfed

16. Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
Farmers’ post-trial preference assessment
Partially irrigated trial sites
CA
Mixed
tillage
Full tillage
Rainfed trial sites

17. Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
What key conclusions can we
draw?
• ‘Complete’ CA and ‘mixed’ tillage: intermediate
yield, profitability, and energy efficiency gains
• CA maize yield contradicts recent meta-
analyses
• While CA had lowest yield-scaled emissions,
mixed-tillage increased rice-derived GWP,
though balanced by strip tilled maize relative to
full till.
• BRRI 52 is superior to BRRI 41.
• No yield penalty for unpuddled transplanting.
• Farmers still prefer mixed tillage to ‘complete’
CA.
• Preferences for ‘mixed’ tillage come from dislike
of unpuddled manual transplanting and labor

18. Thank you
for your
interest!
Any questions?
Thank you!
t.krupnik@cgiar.or
g

20. Moving research into impact
FundstechnologyR&D
Farmeradoption
Basic and engineering
research
Applied research to scale adoption
‘Valley of technology
death’

21. • 5 machinery supply company partners, $0.94 m
investment
• 1,400 power tiller operated seeder (PTOS) service
Experimental design Key resultsBackground Implications
DEALER
S
SALES
OFFICER
SERVICE
PROVID
ER
FIRMSSOURCE
Import
Manufacture
Business
client
Farmer aggregation
& demand creation
Improved through
training and certification
Increased adoption by access to
finance
Agronomic
advice
Technology
developme
nt &
adaptation
Machiner
y
services
FARMER
S
Researc
h
Flow of research
results
Feedback to research
Existing relationships
but strengthened
MECHANICS
EXTENSIO
N
SERVICES
FSPs
Moving research results into action and impact

22. Fluted roller calibration keys