Small landholders can implement a range of climatesmart
agricultural (CSA) practices and technologies,
in order to minimize the adverse effects of climate
change and variability, but their adoption largely
depends on economic benefits associated with the
practices. To demonstrate the potential economic
benefits of CSA practices, we conducted a study with
smallholder farmers in the Indo-Gangetic Plains
(IGP) of India. Among the CSA practices and technologies
including use of improved crop varieties,
laser land levelling, zero tillage, residue management,
site specific nutrient management, and crop diversification,
a majority of the farmers prefer to use improved
crop varieties, crop diversification, laser land
levelling and zero tillage practice. We estimated the
cost of adoption, change in yields and income for the
implementation of three major CSA practices in rice–
wheat system. The average cost of adoption were
+1,402, +3,037 and –1,577 INR ha–1
for the use of improved
crop varieties, laser land levelling and zero
tillage respectively. Results show that farmers can increase
net return of INR 15,712 ha–1
yr–1
with improved
crop varieties, INR 8,119 ha–1
yr–1
with laser
levelling and INR 6,951 ha–1
yr–1
with zero tillage in
rice–wheat system. Results also show that the combination
of improved seeds with zero tillage and laser
land levelling technologies can further improve crop
yields as well as net returns. The econometric analysis
indicates that implementations of CSA practices and
technologies in smallholder farms in the IGP of India,
have significant impacts on change in total production
costs and yield in rice–wheat system.