Factors Influencing Adoption of Soil and Water Conservation Measures in India: Reviewing the Evidence

Abstract

In India an estimated 121 million hectare (Mha) suffers from various forms of land degradation and it has been identified as one of the most serious problems that threaten the sustainability of agriculture. Over the past decades successive development projects have promoted a variety of soil and water conservation (SWC) measures to addressing the problems of low agricultural productivity and soil degradation. However, these measures have seldom been adopted on a large scale. Social scientists have been seeking to understand the reasons for their adoption and non-adoption. This paper reviews the past studies in order to identify those socio-economic, institutional and technical factors that explain adoption or lack of it for understanding the success or failure of these SWC measures. The results showed that educational level of the household head, awareness, age, land holding size, perceptions about soil erosion, access to credit; land tenure, off-farm employment and income, information sources and extension contact significantly affect farmers' adoption decision and the extent of soil and water conservation measures. Therefore, to encourage adoption of improved conservation measures, the extension, institutional support programs and projects that promote soil and water conservation measures should have strategies which focus on enhancing the awareness and willingness of farmers along with increasing income of the farmers.