Presented in ACIAR-IFPRI two days Regional Dialogue on Machine Reforms’ for Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture in South Asia on July 21-22, 2017 in New Delhi, India

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Women on Conservation Agriculture
Tools: Case Studies from SRFSI
Maria Fay Rola-Rubzen, Sofina Maharjan and Kuhu Chatterjee

2. Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
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Outline
▪Introduction
▪SRFSI Overview
▪Women Participation in SRFSI
▪Case Studies of Farm Women
▪Summary
▪Issues & Challenges
▪Future Strategies
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Rationale
▪ Agriculture is a risky enterprise
(Hardaker et al., 2004)
▪ Climate change has adverse
effect on agriculture; farm
households have to adapt
(Howden et al., 2007)
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▪ Conservation agriculture was introduced to minimise
soil tillage and attain sustainable cultivation (Hobbs,
Sayre, & Gupta, 2008)
▪ There is a modest advantage of conservation
agriculture over conventional farming methods (Knowler
& Bradshaw, 2007)

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Why focus on women?
➢Women’s involvement in agriculture is 75%-95%
➢In South Asia, women are key partners in securing HH
food and nutrition security (Ramachandran, 2007)
➢Feminisation of agriculture due to outmigration of men
from agriculture to industry in pursuit of higher paying jobs
(Vepa, 2005)
➢Mechanisation (e.g. the use of
tractor) - associated with male
power and domination over
farm women (Saugeres, 2002)

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SRFSI Overview
▪ Main technologies:
• Direct seeded rice (zero tillage or strip tillage), wheat & maize
• Weed & nutrient management
• Mechanical rice transplanter/Unpuddled transplanted rice
• Crop intensification – more intensive rotations – intercropping
▪ Other technologies:
• Bed planting
• Laser levelling
• Direct seeded crop
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Women Participation in SRFSI
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May 2015 - April 2016 May 2016 - April 2017
Male Female Joint Total Male Female Joint Total
Count
Nepal 1387 647 173 2207 511 306 162 979
India 2664 1064 284 4012 7587 3262 8203 19052
Bangladesh 4761 2060 86 6907 4303 1895 197 6395
Total 8812 3771 543 13126 12401 5463 8562 26426
Percent
Nepal 63% 29% 8% 52% 31% 17%
India 66% 27% 7% 40% 17% 43%
Bangladesh 69% 30% 1% 67% 30% 3%

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Case Study 1: Sunsari, Nepal
▪ Household head: wife (49)
▪ Technology used: zero tillage; chemical
weed control; improved varieties,
mechanical rice transplanter
▪ Benefits: increase in irrigation and labour efficiency;
decrease in tillage and production cost; saved time;
reduced drudgery among women farmers;
▪ Challenges: residue management; lack of technical
knowledge on weed management; irrigation problem
▪ Impact: saved water use by 30%; saved money from
irrigation, labour and tillage; made additional loan
repayment
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Case Study 2: Dhanusha, Nepal
▪ Household head: wife (41)
▪ Technology used: zero tillage – wheat
and rice; puddled and unpuddled rice
▪ Benefits: cost saving; less labour; reduced pest incidence;
increased yield
▪ Challenges: lack of quality herbicides; lack of irrigation
facility; heavy weed infestation; lack of skilled tractor
drivers
▪ Impact: increased production; increased income;
supported children’s college education
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Case Study 3: Madhubani, India
▪ Household head: wife (45)
▪ Technology used: zero tillage - wheat
▪ Benefits: reduced input cost; increased yield
▪ Challenges: (none mentioned)
▪ Impact: saved INR 8,404 (AUD 167)
from input cost; earned additional
INR 15,184 (AUD 301) from
output sale; invested in
child’s education, gained respect
in society
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Case Study 4: Coochbehar, India
▪ Household head: wife & husband
▪ Technology used: zero tillage - rice and maize
▪ Benefits: less lodging tendency;
early maturity; less insect-disease incidence;
increased earthworm population;
reduction in land undulation
▪ Challenges: unavailability of skilled tractor
drivers; uneven seed distribution
▪ Impact: 9 t/ha yield of quality maize grain; improved
family’s standard of living; ability to buy ‘comfort’ goods;
increased ‘status’ in the society
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Case Study 5: Malda, India
▪ Household head: wife
▪ Technology used: ZT-Lentil;
pest and disease management
▪ Benefits: reduce expenditure
on water, labour and fertiliser; can grow three crops
instead of two crops in a year;
▪ Challenges: (none mentioned)
▪ Impact: increased yield from 1.5 t/ha to 2.25 t/ha lentil
production; increased income by INR 75,000/ha (AUD
1,486/ha); procured better medical treatment for husband;
sent her daughter to college
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Case Study 6: Purnea, India
▪ Household head: wife
▪ Technology used: ZT-Wheat;
ZT-Maize, direct seeded rice
▪ Benefits: reduced input cost
▪ Challenges: uneven germination; unskilled tractor
▪ Impact: leased six bigha (7,800 m2); joined Aranyak, a PG
company (innovation platform); sold 200 qtl maize; earned
INR 10,000 (AUD 198) on top of maize sales; saved INR
4100/acre (AUD 81/0.4 ha) from production cost; sent her
three children to convent school
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Case Study 7: Rajshahi, Bangladesh
▪ Household head: wife (24) & husband (32)
▪ Technology used: unpuddled rice transplanting; improved
varieties; quality seed; recommended fertiliser dosages
▪ Benefits: reduction in irrigation costs; decline in pest
presence
▪ Challenges: less familiar with the technology
▪ Impact: increased financial solvency; self-sufficient with
their grain supplies; saved Tk 1500 per 33 decimal (AUD
25.61 per 1320 m2)
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Case Study 8: Rangpur, Bangladesh
▪ Household head: wife (38) & husband (45)
▪ Technology used: strip tillage; crop residue retention;
improved seed varieties; recommended fertiliser dosages
▪ Benefits: less tillage, labour and irrigation costs
▪ Challenges: uneven distribution of seed and fertiliser by
the machine; unavailability of the machine and its spare
parts; weed problem; shortage of skilled machine
operators
▪ Impact: increased financial solvency; earned additional Tk
6000 (AUD 102.44); saved Tk 3000 per 33 decimal (AUD
51.22 per 1320 m2)
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Summary: Benefits
▪ Increased labour efficiency; less labour; less tillage;
reduced drudgery among women farmers
▪ Increased irrigation efficiency; reduced water expenditure;
reduction in land undulation;
▪ Decreased tillage and production cost; reduced input cost;
cost saving
▪ Saved time; early maturity; increased crop intensity (can
plant three crops in a year)
▪ Reduced pest incidence; less insect-disease incidence
▪ Increased yield; less lodging tendency; increased
earthworm population
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Summary: Challenges
▪ Residue management; lack of technical knowledge on
weed management; lack of quality herbicides; weed
problem
▪ Irrigation problem; lack of irrigation facility
▪ Lack/unavailability/shortage of skilled tractor drivers;
unavailability of machine and its spare parts
▪ Uneven seed distribution; uneven germination; less
coverage; uneven distribution of fertiliser
▪ Less familiar with the technology
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Summary: Impacts
▪ Saved water use; saved money from irrigation; saved
labour and tillage; saved input cost
▪ Increased financial solvency; made additional loan
repayment
▪ Increased yield/production; quality grain; self sufficiency
▪ Increased income
▪ Improved family’s standard of living; supported children’s
education; ability to buy ‘comfort’ goods; procured better
medical treatment
▪ Leased additional land
▪ Joined organisation/association
▪ Increased ‘status’ in society
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Issues and Challenges
1. Women participation in SRFSI. While women
participation shows encouraging trend, there is a need to
increase women participation to parity level across
countries, project sites and across activities
2. Improve capacity of women farmers. It is apparent that
the lack of skills in the use of CASI technologies – tractor
operation, weed management, and crop nutrition, can
discourage women from successfully adopting the
technology
3. Improve women’s access to resources. With the
exodus of male farmers and the feminisation of
agriculture, women should have better access to
agricultural resources – land, inputs, credit, and
technology
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19. Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Future Strategies and Actions
▪ Set a target quota of 50-50% participation for both men
and women in future SRFSI activities.
▪ Bring activities closer to the household venue where
participation of women was relatively low
▪ Consider the women’s domestic and household activities
aside from farming activities in scheduling project activities
to improve the likelihood of participation by women
▪ Provide women trainers to encourage participation of
women
▪ Recognise male and female role along the value chain to
be able to provide appropriate support & capacity building
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20. Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
References
▪ Hardaker, J. B., Huirne, R. B. M., Anderson, J. R., & Lien, G. (2004). Coping with risk in agriculture:
Cabi.
▪ Hobbs, P. R., Sayre, K., & Gupta, R. (2008). The role of conservation agriculture in sustainable
agriculture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences,
363(1491), 543-555.
▪ Howden, S. M., Soussana, J.-F., Tubiello, F. N., Chhetri, N., Dunlop, M., & Meinke, H. (2007).
Adapting agriculture to climate change. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 104(50),
19691-19696.
▪ Knowler, D., & Bradshaw, B. (2007). Farmers’ adoption of conservation agriculture: A review and
synthesis of recent research. Food policy, 32(1), 25-48.
▪ Ramachandran, N. (2007). Women and food security in South Asia: Current issues and emerging
concerns. In B. Guha-Khasnobis, S. S. Acharya & B. Davis (Eds.), Food Insecurity, Vulnerability and
Human Rights Failure (pp. 219-240). UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
▪ Saugeres, L. (2002). Of tractors and men: masculinity, technology and power in a French farming
community. Sociologia Ruralis, 42(2), 143-159.
▪ Vepa, S. S. (2005). Feminisation of agriculture and marginalisation of their economic stake.
Economic and Political Weekly, 40(25), 2563-2568.
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21. Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
Thank you
Q&A
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