Adoption and Economic and Environmental Impact of Laser-assisted Precision Land Leveling in Northwestern India

Abstract

Globally, agricultural production systems need to become more sustainable to meet future food demand without overexploiting natural resources. Northwestern India, a region with highly intensive agricultural production, is facing a rapid decline in groundwater levels due to excessive water use for irrigation. This dissertation investigates laser-assisted land levelling technology (LLL) that reduces water use for irrigation and has been adopted in northwestern India to manage groundwater depletion. The study examines three interrelated research questions: 1) Why are farmers adopting LLL technology, 2) How did farmers access this technology, and 3) What impact does LLL technology adoption have on groundwater levels? The study uses primary data from 1661 households in 84 villages to determine why and how farmers adopt the technology. Further, combining village-level survey data from 291 villages with monthly observational well data and climate data for 21 years, the study also estimates the effect of LLL adoption on groundwater in northwestern India. <br /> LLL is popular and widely adopted in northwestern India, with 93 % of farmers aware of the technology and 84% adopting it in their farms. Analysis based on qualitative interviews and estimation based on regressions and causal machine learning shows that the widespread adoption of LLL is due to positive perceptions about this technology and other co-benefits, such as a marginal increase in yield and preference for levelled fields. The findings highlight the need to recognise farmers' perceptions and co-benefits, integrate them with benefits designed by researchers, and foster feedback loops and knowledge co-creation to promote LLL adoption. <br /> The emergence of private service providers, an institutional mechanism for renting technology, facilitates the adoption of LLL on small plots and among small farm owners. Regression analysis shows that the number of service providers is positively associated with adoption rates, particularly on smaller plots and farms. Promoting individual service providers increases the access of small farm owners to LLL technology through flexible on-demand services and competitive rental markets. <br /> Furthermore, the analysis reveals that LLL adoption slows down the effect of groundwater decline in northwestern India. Applying a staggered difference-in-difference approach, the study shows that the adoption of LLL at the village level has reduced the decline in groundwater levels by 3.7 meters in the month succeeding the use of technology. However, adopting LLL is not enough to stop or reverse overall groundwater decline. Several technological and policy options that could impact the behaviour of farmers towards saving water for irrigation in agriculture are discussed. <br /> This dissertation contributes to understanding the adoption and impact of LLL technology for groundwater sustainability in three ways. First, it provides insights into designing new dissemination strategies based on farmers' experience. Second, it discusses new institutional approaches – individual service providers, for supporting the adoption of technology by smallholder farmers. Third, it examines the extent to which the adoption of technology at the farm level transforms into system-level effects in terms of the actual impact on groundwater savings, reducing the negative externalities of groundwater exploitation for agriculture.