Effect of socioeconomic and institutional factors and sustainable land management practices on soil fertility in smallholder farms in the Mahottari District, Nepal

Abstract

Soil fertility decline is a serious global problem, leading to a decline in crop yields and jeopardizing household food security, particularly in developing countries. This paper examines the impact of socioeconomic and institutional factors and the adoption of sustainable land management practices on soil fertility changes on farms between 2002 and 2018 in the Mahottari District of Nepal. A household survey among 184 smallholder farmers was conducted in 2018 to complement soil survey data collected in 2002. A seemingly unrelated regression model was used to estimate factors influencing soil fertility changes between the two periods. The results showed that soil organic matter (SOM), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and soil pH increased, on average, by about 0.2%, 97 kg/ha, 4 kg/ha, and 0.5 scales, respectively, on the studied farms. The regression results indicated that extension visits and government support (free seedlings) had positive effects, while cooperative membership negatively affected soil fertility changes. Moreover, practicing fallow land use improved soil fertility changes on farms, while practicing conventional tillage using animals deteriorated soil fertility changes. The adoption of agroforestry practices positively affected changes in P and K and negatively affected SOM. Overall, this study highlighted the importance of institutional characteristics and sustainable land management practices to improve soil fertility. The policy implications of these findings for enhancing soil fertility on smallholder farms are: (1) increase the frequency of extension visits to share relevant information with farmers; and (2) incentivize farmers to adopt agroforestry and fallowing practices on their farms.

Exploring consumers’ environmental ethical preferences in the context of unmanned aerial vehicle utilization for plant protection

“…Plant protection using UAVs has been incorporated into the traceability systems of agricultural products, enabling the monitoring of plant growth 15 , disease patterns 16 , and crop-dusting 17 and the accurate estimation of agricultural output 18 , allowing for the improved quality and efficiency of agricultural production. Meanwhile, the plant protection periods for double-cropping rice have been concentrated between May and June and between August and September, when most regions in China experience the hottest temperatures.…”